


What We've Built

by underwaterocean



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: F/M, Family, Post-Calamity Ganon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-08
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-02-19 00:10:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 31,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22168759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/underwaterocean/pseuds/underwaterocean
Summary: Zelda makes a choice after the calamity and refuses to back down. Just a mostly happy story of family after tragedy with a little bit of angst because it gets boring without it.Same Link and Zelda from Little Hero, but well into the future. You don't technically have to read Little Hero first, especially since it's not completed, but I will make references to it.
Relationships: Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 73
Kudos: 187





	1. Old Wounds

The air was crisp and biting, cutting through the thickest of jackets with ease. Small woodland creatures took to their stockpiles in their burrows as they settled down for winter, peeking out of their knotted tree holes at the silhouettes that passed them by. Two horses with three riders, wrapped tightly in Rito wools to stave off the cold. They ambled across the rolling hills dusted with frost, their horses painting the landscape with the swirls of their exhales. 

“Papa, I’m cold,” the smallest rider said. 

“You’re cold?”

“Yeah”

He ruffled through his saddle bags in an attempt to find something else to swaddle the child in but came up empty. If there had been something else, he would have wrapped her in it hours ago. He settled on his own downy jacket, fumbling to unlace it’s front with numb fingers. 

“Link! You’ll catch your death!” the woman’s soft voice carried across the hills.

“But she’s cold,” he replied as his teeth began to chatter, as if it should never have been questioned in the first place. 

“Let us stop for now. We can build a fire. We’ve been travelling for hours”

Link surveyed the land around them. Old habit. Though it had been years since his life of solitude after waking in the Shrine of Resurrection, he still never allowed himself the luxury of feeling safe when on the road. To Link, there was always a monster around the bend, an assassin behind every tree. Now there was more to lose than just his own life. There was her, Zelda. And now they had  _ her,  _ the little one who wore his indigo eyes and, unfortunately for her, his unruly dirty blonde mop. He couldn’t risk losing them. Not after everything he'd done. Although he had lied to himself during the months after his awakening that he felt peace in the solace of being alone, it was truly just the safety of solitude that pulled him in. He had drowned in the loneliness, unaware of the dark hands that slowly pulled him under the surface. It was Zelda who had reached in and cleared the water from his lungs, who filled his sky with stars, his heart with love once again. He would do anything for her. 

“Link, it’s okay. We can shelter there, near the cliffs,” Zelda pointed to the small rock face to the east and Link quickly nodded.

Link dismounted quickly and reached his arms out to the child in Zelda’s lap. She was a petite thing, almost always judged as far younger than her age, the curious age of four. She jumped into his arms and wrapped her own around his neck, turning to look at Zelda as their cold cheeks kissed, two sets of those deep blues staring at her in the moonlight. 

“My Papa!” she squealed as if he had just returned from a long journey instead of simply riding on a parallel horse.

“Come here, darling,” Link cooed into her hair as he held her. 

The sight of it melted Zelda completed every time. Though she had never shared her reservations with him, she had been worried about how he would adjust to fatherhood, particularly for someone who did not remember their own father or much about being a child themselves at all. Though Link had recovered enough memory to finally feel stability within himself, his lack of personal history still troubled him, though he would not voice it. But something had come alive in Link when she placed their daughter in his arms for the first time. He softened. He had handled her so gently those first few years, terrified of harming her in anyway. When she grew more resilient, it was Zelda who had to remind him she wasn’t made of glass. A sentiment she had wondered if she should have held onto for a few more years. Their play had quickly escalated once Link released it could. Now there were giggling fits as she flew from his strong arms uncomfortably high in the air and “adventures” where they would end up together on a rooftop or a deceptively strong tree branch. They were infatuated with each other and Zelda was content to study them. It amazed her how similar they were. How they both slept with their mouths open, despite Link's complete denial of the fact. How she yearned for reckless adventure and the outdoors and seemed to possess a never ending stream of stamina, running until she simply couldn't anymore. But Zelda could see herself too, in the way she studied her surroundings, constantly wondering the "why's" and "how's" of the world around her. 

Link smiled up at her as he offered her a hand to dismount her horse. She did not, in fact, need assistance from her horse but he offered anyway, taking his cold hand into hers as she slid down the side of the gentle beast. She placed a gentle kiss on his cheek when she felt the ground firmly beneath her feet. 

“You’re like an icicle,” she laughed as she shivered at his touch. He must have given her all of their elixirs and saved none for himself. He was always doing that. Giving himself away. It was why she had given everything for him all those years ago. The thought left her lost in memory as Link scurried about the camp, settling up a fire quicker than she could contemplate what he was doing, even with a child clutched in his arms. He had adapting to doing a great number of things with one hand since her birth. 

“You still think this was a good idea?” Link’s voice broke her from her thoughts. He had settled across from her, warming his hands on the fire as their daughter dozed in his lap, happy to be in his arms again. She had begged to ride on his horse with him as they traveled, but he had told her no. It was one of the few times he had ever so flatly refused her request, making the child almost well up with tears.

_ It’s not safe, what if we get attacked on the way?  _ He had said. To that she simply welled up her ocean eyes with fresh waves of sadness that almost washed his resolve away. Zelda rolled her eyes and smiled at how easily the child seemed to work him without his knowledge. Zelda herself had perfected the art of persuading her stubborn knight to bend to her ways, but it had taken her much longer and with much more effort. All their child had to do was well up a few tears and Link would melt away. But not this time. He had kept his edge long enough to mount his horse and scurry away before her tears did him in. She would surely cling to him the rest of the night, making up for lost time. 

“Impa deserves to meet her, at least. She did help to raise me,” Zelda finally replied, taking off her own gloves to feel the warmth of the fire lick over her pale skin. 

“Even after what they did to you?” 

“All they did to you, Link” she corrected him. 

He shifted uneasily and the little girl stirred in his lap. He shushed her and placed a hand almost defensively on her back, a faraway look on his face. 

Zelda stood from her seat across the fire and made her way over to him, snuggling into his side. He wrapped an arm around her and nuzzled into her hair, one of his nervous habits. She smiled into his shoulder, her heart warmed at their closeness. Travelling had left him anxious and weary. She was ready to have him under a roof again, to see his shoulders loosened, his crooked grin upon his face again instead of the thin lip he kept on the road.

“I regret nothing. I never will,” she said, voice nearly muffled by his thick coat. 

“You gave up everything for me,” he whispered, pulling her tighter. 

“I gave up everything I never wanted for the only thing I always did”

He leaned down to face her, storms in his eyes. She knew he would never fully believe her, that he would never deem himself completely worthy of her. She had made it her goal everyday since the fall of the calamity to prove him wrong. 

“I love you,” she told him, cradling his face in her hands as she tenderly kissed him. She could feel the way he loosened in her touch. It warmed her. 

“Love you Mama,” the child added from his lap. Zelda felt Link smile against her lips before pulling away to look at her. 

“I thought you were asleep,” Link laughed at her. She simply smiled and laid her head back down on his chest, drawing circles into his coat with her tiny fingers.

Link’s smile fell as he leaned back, patting the little one of the back in a slow rhythm. Zelda wasn’t sure if it was to soothe her or himself. He was always doing that too. Questioning himself. Especially after what Impa had said about him after they had defeated the calamity.

_ Zelda, the boy spent months in the wilderness alone with not even himself as company. The boy barely knew his own name for weeks. How can we really be sure you are safe with him? _

Zelda shrugged off the thought and leaned to kiss him again on the cheek before making her way into their tent. 

“Come, let’s get some rest”

“Take Liliya, I’ll stay up and watch”

Link didn’t have to turn to see the look on her face. The way her eyebrows raised, her stance shifting to one side as she put a hand on her waist. He sighed. 

“I think not,  _ Sir Knight,” _ she teased him with his forgotten title, “She’s not the only one who has missed your touch all day” 

Link sighed and carefully rose from the ground so as to not disturb the sleeping child on his chest. 

“As you wish,  _ Princess,”  _ he grinned at her with a brow raised, “If a bokoblin attacks tonight I expect you will be ready to dispatch it?”

“If a bokoblin attacks tonight, I will eat my tunic,” she rolled her eyes at him, “we haven’t seen one in over a year”

“Hmm, I’d like to see that”

Zelda threw her balled up gloves at him and he made a show of emotional hurt that left her in a fit of giggles as they settled down together in the tent with Liliya sandwiched between them for warmth. She lay her now warmed hand on his cheek and looked into his eyes. How she wished she could see beyond those waters into the heart of her hero. Her hero who still questioned himself at every turn despite being the one to breath life back into her. How she wished he could see the light she saw that gleamed so radiantly within him. Some days she feared he still lived in the dark. 

“Goodnight, my love,” she whispered as his eyes rolled closed and he settled into slumber, his body clearly yearning for the reprieve of his pent up anxieties. 

“And goodnight my little love,” she said to the child that clung to his chest. She left a kiss on her hair as she too drifted off to sleep. 


	2. Confronting the Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't exactly lie when I said mostly happy, I'm just seemingly incapable of writing pure happiness I guess.

Link was anxious before the wooden gate leading to the sleepy Sheikah village, though he tried his best not to show it. Zelda could see through the veil of his sheepish smiles and the way he kept trying and failing to reassure her with his eyes, looking over his shoulder periodically on the trail through the canyon valley between the mountains. She could see his hesitation in the way his horse jerked slightly side to side, sensing it’s master’s unrest and the way he kept his shoulders stiff, facing forward like a soldier on the march when he wasn’t putting on a show for her. An uninhibited Link would often turn on his saddle to eye some curiosity or even swing low from his seat to pick something up from the ground that caught his eye, sometimes a flower he would offer to her with a grin that filled his eyes with warmth. He would hold Liliya in front of him and tell her stories of his adventures before he rescued her mother from the castle. It was hard for Liliya to imagine her gentle Papa as great man of adventure, but she hung on his every word, transfixed at every detail. There were no such carefree deviations on this ride, however. Link was stoic and focused, eyeing the Sheikah symbols hanging from the ragged banners as if any moment they may come alive and threaten his family’s safety. Zelda urged her own mount forward to ride parallel as Liliya watched the clouds from her lap, quietly singing an old lullaby from a century past. 

“Link,” she said.

He turned towards her but kept his eyes downcast, showing off another false smile as if he had convinced himself she believed him.

“It will be okay, I promise,” she said, leaning forward slightly as if her body yearned for contact but quickly readjusting when his horse created a larger gap between them. It was too nervous for the closeness. 

All he did was nod. Zelda inwardly sighed and pulled Liliya in closer. Even just feeling her small body against hers was a comfort. She had wondered if she should have insisted Liliya ride with him. Perhaps she could have pulled him out of the fog he seemed to be swimming in. Though Link had progressed by leaps and bounds from the silent knight of a century prior, he still had moments where he fell inside of himself and seemed unreachable. His silence was always the first indicator. Zelda had learned to read his cues. First the silence. For her, he would always acknowledge her if she spoke to him directly and reply in some minuscule way either through body language or hand gestures that only she seemed to understand. Others were not so fortunate. He had a regrettable tendency to simply ignore others when he fell into that state of mind. After the silence came the staring and the glassy look in his eyes as if his mind had long ago escaped his body. She found the best way to bring him back from that state was through touch. The brush of a hand on his cheek. A hand unfurling his tight fist. Her lips on his ear. Link had became quite tactile after his restorative slumber. He was always running a hand on the small of her back or through Liliya’s hair. It grounded him. 

“I believe Impa just wants to make peace. Remember she was quite close with us both, before,” she said to him, hoping her voice was enough to bring him back. 

“I don’t…”

“You don’t remember. Of course. I’m so sorry, Link,” she lamented, ashamed at herself for the slip. 

She knew his memory loss weighed heavily upon him and had tried diligently to remind herself not to assume he remembered something. He almost appeared guilty in those moments when they found she remembered possibly too much and he couldn’t remember at all. She had tried to explain to him that he didn’t  _ forget  _ anything, his memories were taken from him. He had no choice in the matter. No active role. But Link carried his failures close to his heart and she knew he didn’t see it the way she did. He would never accept her role in his near death and the fall of their kingdom, preferring to shoulder it alone. It was another part of himself he gave away. His innocence. She sighed and dismounted her horse.

“Catch me!” Liliya squealed, breaking Zelda from her thoughts as the child leapt into her arms without further warning. Some days she wondered why they couldn’t have had a quiet, studious child like herself.  _ Maybe the next one _ , she thought to herself with a smile as she sat Liliya on the ground. 

Link made his way slowly to them and Zelda took the opportunity to lean into him, hoping to ground him again. He wrapped an arm around her waist and she folded into his side. 

“I won’t make it,” he said quietly, watching as Liliya spotted a stray flower petal to chase through the wind. 

“What do you mean?”

“If they take you away from me. Either of you”

He grabbed onto the hand she had wrapped around his forearm but shifted his gaze to the ground. Zelda felt her heart trip over itself in her chest.  _ So that’s what is bothering him _ . He must have been visualizing any number of scenarios in his mind on their journey. Impa’s guards carrying him away, the wild man who stole the Queen from her Kingdom. Liliya weighed down with a silver crown upon her head, the mark of the new Princess. Himself, alone again, forced to watch from the wilds while his family was forced into a renovated Hyrule Castle, a new prison for a new century. 

Liliya ran to him, climbing him like a tree before settling upon his shoulders. He barely acknowledged the weight of her. He had only grown sturdier in maturity. 

“Where are we, Papa?” she asked, her head craning from her perch like a periscope, the other brushing through his blonde waves.

“Kakariko,” his voice was flat in this reply.

“Is it a fun place?” 

Link’s brows pinched together as the worry line across his forehead deepened. Zelda wrapped her arms around him and looked up at the mischievous child who really had no interest in the answer to her question other than just to hear herself talk. She was like Zelda in that regard. She could feel Link’s heart beating through his coat, how strong it sounded. She could still remember her frantic search for even a fraction of that strength on the Blatchery Plain when he had fallen for her; the hope that kindled inside her when she finally found it’s weak vibrations. She had prayed it would stay with him as he was carted away from her, his limp arm hanging bloodied over the side of the stretcher the Sheikah had carried him on. She silently thanked the Goddesses for his presence. He was here. She was here. There was nothing anyone could do to change that now. 

“No one will ever take us from you,” she said to him and he looked down to meet her eyes, sealing her promise with a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

“Do you trust me?”

For a moment she thought he wouldn’t respond as he started to lead the horses down the curving path, balancing the curious child atop his shoulders. 

“You’re the only one I trust,” he finally said, a genuine smile now playing on his lips. 

She took his hand and together they passed through the gates. 

* * *

Dorian and Cado stood in salute at the long steps to Impa’s house. It was Dorian who first noticed the trio walking through the sleepy village. Dusk was settling across Kakariko, bathing the quaint houses in a soothing amber light. Dorian raised a brow at the child that walked tethered to Link. A smile crept across his lips.

“Link...Miss Zelda…and...who is this little one?” he began, tilting forward in an almost bow. Zelda had made it clear her stance on her station when she last left Kakariko. He dared not insult her with her title now, though he still viewed her as Queen. 

“This is Liliya,” Zelda replied as the child shuffled to hide behind Link’s legs. The family had kept mostly to themselves since her birth and she wasn’t used to meeting strangers. Zelda wondered how long it would be before she was talking their ear off. 

“She’s beautiful, has your mischievous eyes,” Dorian winked at Link, “The girls will be excited to have another little one in town. They’ve missed you”

Link shrunk slightly at the man’s words for he had missed Dorian’s daughters as well. They must have grown quite a bit since he saw them last. The thought pulled on his heart. He opened his mouth to try and voice his thoughts to Dorian but found his anxiety had taken them once again. He settled for a small nod and fake smile. 

“That she does, Dorian. Thank you,” Zelda answered for him, eyeing him sympathetically from his side. She’d never quite gotten used to that side of him. To her, Link was a great number of things. He was of course courageous, loyal, adventurous, selfless, and a dash reckless, but not usually nervous. Part of her wanted to grab his hand and run back to Hateno to their house on the edge of town where she could pull him into bed and hide from the world. But she knew she couldn’t. 

“Master Impa is waiting for you,” Cado said, looking between the pair of them, “it is so good to see you again”

Link and Zelda met eyes a moment before Zelda took the lead up the long flight of stairs. 

“This is a big house,” said Liliya, choosing to jump up the steps instead of walk, “is there food here?”

Zelda saw the smile that danced across Link’s face. 

“Maybe later,” he whispered. She exaggerated a grimace his way and he leaned over to pick her up. Though Liliya tried to muffle her giggles into his shoulder, Zelda could tell Link’s nimble fingers had made their way under her arms. She was so quick to giggle, a fact Link had taken advantage of her whole life, much to Liliya’s dismay. 

They stood outside the door a moment, listening to the gentle rhythm of the wind chimes that made Kakariko seem so magical. Zelda took Link’s hand and nodded as they both opened the door. 

Impa sat in her usual spot, though her house was littered in parchment. Zelda recognized a few of the extra faces in the house; dignitaries of the old houses of Hyrule. Impa must have set up the seat of the kingdom right from her sitting room.  _ Typical Impa,  _ Zelda almost laughed at the thought. The old woman’s eyes suddenly caught hers from across the room and she held up a frail hand. 

“Leave us,” she said, causing the others in the space to scurry around them, funneling out of the room like a school of fish. Link and Zelda had to shuffle closer together to make way for them. In their absence, a silence settled among them. Even Liliya was usually quiet, choosing to lean her head into Link’s shoulder. Zelda thought she must be exhausted. 

“You’ve come,” Impa said, folding her dainty, wrinkled hands in her lap, the ornaments on her large conical hat making lazy spirals in front of her face. 

“You called for us,” Zelda’s voice was flat. Link stepped instinctively closer to her and she turned towards him, a movement Impa did not miss. 

“I had heard rumors of a child, though I tend not to believe things I have yet to see with my own eyes or the eyes of those I trust. How old is she?” 

Link looked to Zelda. It would seem his speech had all but left him. 

“Four,” Zelda replied. 

Liliya lifted her head from Link’s shoulder and turned to face Impa so that her and her father’s faces were parallel. Impa’s eyes softened as she looked upon them. They bore a striking resemblance, particularly perched the way they were together. It stirred old memories in Impa’s heart. A scared little boy hiding behind his father’s legs in the hallways of Hyrule Castle, the way he quietly cried as she led him into her chambers for his first lesson in Sheikah history. She wondered how much of his father he even remembered. 

“Has it really been so long, my dear?” Impa said quietly, then heavily sighed, shifting her focus to Zelda. She wondered how much of her mother’s spirit the child held. Did she constantly question authority like the tiny princess she had grown to love? Was she inquisitive? Smart witted? A deeper part of her wondered if the child now held Hylia’s blessing. How would the Goddess manifest her powers now that the calamity had been defeated? Had they told her?

Neither Link nor Zelda answered her inquiry. Zelda could practically feel the nervous energy around Link. Like static before a storm. The calm before battle. His breathing was measured and even, eyes sharp. The arm Liliya was perched upon was flexed, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. She could hardly stand it. 

“Impa, why have you called for us?” she asked, letting her frustration seep into her words.

“You got my letter did you not? I believe I asked specifically for _ you _ , my dear” 

“Where she goes, I go. We are family now,” Link’s voice carried across the small space, surprising Zelda with its firmness. He could pull together when he needed to. Impa lifted her brows and nodded slowly to him. 

Zelda tried not to picture the last time Link had stood in Impa’s house. Silent as a statue before Impa and the descendants of Hyrule’s old houses that she had called upon the defeat of the calamity. She could still remember their biting words and the doubt across their faces. 

_ What are you still doing here, boy? You’ve done your duty. An uneducated knight has no place in politics. _

_ You’ve slayed the beast. That was all that was asked of you. Take your leave.  _

_ Have you heard the stories of this one? Chasing lynels, climbing atop sleeping hinoxes. I, for one, do not feel comfortable with him escorting our princess. We’ve already lost her once.  _

“What have you named her?” Impa asked, sensing the discomfort that was rapidly eating up the room.

“Liliya,” Zelda replied. 

The child grinned at the sound of her name and Link couldn’t help but grin back at her.

“I should have known you to pick something floral. I assume she carries your name as well. It is tradition,” Impa said.

Zelda knew the tradition. The first daughter of each Queen Zelda is to carry the same name, shoulder the same burdens. It is why she specifically chose to break it. She named her daughter so as to give her her own life. She did not want her daughter to crumble under the weight of a kingdom she did not ask for as she had.

“She does not,” Zelda said plainly, meeting the elder’s eyes almost as if in challenge. 

Impa made a disapproving noise in the back of her throat and sat back on her cushions.

“She favors him, doesn’t she?”

Link instinctively held her closer to his body as if the woman’s words, though innocent as they were, could harm the child. Liliya laid her head down and snuggled into his shoulder, closing her blue eyes as she had grown bored of the adult exchange and quite tired from the long journey. Zelda looked upon the pair and sighed. Liliya had been so well behaved the entire time. It almost hurt her how good she had been. She voiced no complaints though she had every right to. She had been trapped on horseback for hours when she was used to running the wilds and playing. She was like her father in that regard. Keeping her worries to herself. She wanted to see them free again. The tension in the room was suffocating her. 

“What is it you need from us, Impa? We’ve traveled a long way and we are tired and without supper. If there is something specific you wish to ask of me, by all means, I am here. But if it is awkward conversation you are after, we shall have to continue in the morning after our needs have been met,” Zelda’s voice was piercing. It was a tone she hadn’t used in a long time. One that spoke of power. Aristocracy. 

Sometimes Link allowed himself to forget that Zelda had been royalty. It was easy to forget when she was covered in earth as she tackled him into the pond near their home to sneak kisses under the water or when she stood red faced before the cooking pot dressed in his apron, her blonde hair coiling in the wet heat. It was times like these he was reminded of her fierceness. 

Much to everyone’s surprise, Impa began a low chuckle that grew into a full laugh. 

“Forgive me, my dear. Though I am pleased to see your more... _ domestic _ life has not stripped you of your authoritarian nature. There are some aspects of you not even your stubbornness can override it would seem,” she said, the beads on her hat swaying with the movement of her head. 

“My  _ domestic  _ life?” Zelda steamed as she clenched her fists, “you mean my  _ husband and my child?  _ I had come hoping you had changed Impa, but I fear you are still the same slave to an empty throne you were all along,” her words were biting. Link felt Liliya tense in his arms. She wasn’t used to seeing either of them angry. He shushed her and stroked her hair. 

“Zelda, please,” Impa pleaded, sensing she had lost her chance at civility. She knew Zelda well enough to know when her fuse had been lit. 

“No. I will not have this conversation a second time. I made my choice and I don’t intend on changing it now. If that is all, we will be going,” she said in a huff, spinning to grab Link’s arm to pull him out of the doorway, an angry heat across her face. 

“We need you, Zelda. We are struggling to rule without a face to unite the people,”

Zelda stopped dead in her tracks, fixing her angry gaze upon the wooden curves of the door as she listened.

“We are offering you the crown again. If you would have it”

Zelda turned slowly, seething as she let go of Link’s arm and marched toward the elderly woman who seemed to shrink in her presence.

“ _ How dare you,”  _ she growled.

“We want you. All of you, including Link. We cannot sit through one delegate meeting without someone bringing up his name, whether it is in Tabantha or Eldin. Your hero has made quite a name for himself. We were wrong to misjudge him”

Zelda turned to look at Link who had gone motionless, his face devoid of emotion. It reminded her of the broken man who had been her knight a century prior. The man who would shoulder anything in silence. The broken man who wore a mask. Looking upon him now caused a pang of grief to ghost across her heart. He deserved more than a half-hearted apology.

“Princess,” Impa implored, “Please consider the offer. We need you. Hyrule needs you”

“I gave  _ everything  _ to Hyrule!" she shouted, "I gave my entire life and then a century more of torment to hold the calamity at bay so that you may live. And Link!  _ He died for me.  _ You weren’t there, Impa, you cannot possibly understand,” Zelda’s loud voice began to waver as her hardened eyes brimmed with tears,”you would ask more of him after all he’s done for me? For you?! Do we not deserve some measure of peace?”

  
The sound of Liliya’s crying broke the tension that had flooded the room. The little girl was clinging to her father’s chest, his old tunic balled into her closed fists. She didn’t understand why her mother was yelling. She certainly didn’t understand why her mother had said her father had _died_ when he was clearly right here, wrapped protectively around her. 

Zelda deflated and nearly ran across the small space to wrap her arms around both of them, shushing and patting the child’s back, murmuring words of assurance in her ear. 

“ _ Hush my love, it's alright, I’m here,”  _ she whispered to her. 

Link looked up at Impa, storms in his eyes. 

“We’re done here,” he stated as he shuffled his family out of the doorway.

“We were wrong to doubt you, Link. Me especially. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive”

Zelda snapped out of his arms just far enough for Impa to see the anger across her face as she scowled, “You don’t deserve his kindness”

The three of them huddled outside of Impa’s closed door and deflated in each other’s arms. Zelda put a hand on both Link and Liliya’s cheeks and smiled sadly.

“Everything I’ve ever needed is right here,” she said before turning to Link, “You were right, we shouldn’t have come”

Link leaned into her touch and tried to return her smile. He wanted nothing more than to see her happy. If he could raze Hyrule Castle to the ground for her he would have. He wished he knew how to fight the demons that were her lineage. He didn’t have to say anything to her in that moment for her to understand, for the love between them had grown beyond the facilities of words. 

“I’m hungry,” Liliya sniffled as she wiped her arm on her sleeve.

“Me too,” Zelda smiled. 

Link took Zelda’s hand and together they walked towards the inn. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think of this one! I know its weird to have two parts of a series ongoing at one time, but it helps me write for some reason. If I get stuck on one, I go to the other!


	3. One More Chance

Zelda woke with the sun, her eyelids lazily lifting as the first fingers of light traced their way into the sleepy Kakariko Inn. Link and Liliya were still sleeping, wrapped around each other like two puppies in a heap, though one of Link’s hands lay possessively on Zelda’s hip in the tangle. It had taken her some time to get used to sharing her hero. Before Liliya, they had found warmth only in one another. Those first few weeks after the calamity where neither of them found the strength to sleep, instead holding each other well into the twilight. She loved the way he fit around her; his warm breath against her neck, their legs a tangle. They found peace in no one but each other. They had stayed huddled in his house for weeks as they both recovered, often spending days without speaking as they pieced together what to do next. How to move on after the inconceivable second chance at life they had been given. Ultimately, they had decided to seek Impa’s help. How Zelda wished now they had never went to Kakariko. Perhaps they could have held off a while longer until they had both been stronger. Though she stood firm to her convictions, the hurt from that separation still lingered. 

They had both found and simultaneously lost sleep with their child’s birth nearly a year after their split with the Sheikah elder. Zelda quickly found that Link in a true deep sleep, like the one that came with caring for an infant, was quite the adventurous bed partner. It was a wonder he didn’t fall out of bed each night with all his wiggling. She wondered if it was some leftover habit from his time in the wild. If his body refused stillness in order to feign looking awake, functioning as some bizarre sense of self preservation. Liliya, however, never seemed to mind his nightly antics. Often Zelda would wake to find them twisted together, Liliya climbing over him, moving with him and nestling into whatever crook his body had made. It never ceased to warm her heart the way she snuggled into his chest or wrapped her tiny arms around his. She would often force herself to stay awake just to stare at the pair of them before stealing one away from the other for herself. Her favorite mornings were those where Liliya finally grew tired of his flailing and climbed into the security of Zelda's arms. Sometimes they would quickly fall back to sleep together, but sometimes Zelda would sing her gentle lullabies, watching the way the child's long lashes slowed to halt as the sound of Zelda's voice carried her away. 

Zelda reached a hand out to brush a stray hair from Link’s face, gently waking him. She was rewarded with a sleepy smile, one of his eyes staying closed. It was endearing to the point it made her teeth ache.

“Good morning,” she whispered, careful not to wake the child between them. They had learned long ago that it was a mortal sin to wake a sleeping child, no matter the hour. If Liliya was sleeping it meant she required the rest. If it meant the family staying awake together well past midnight, then so be it. They would have a “second supper” as Link had coined it, and put her to rest when she was ready, even if her fatigue did not reappear until sunrise. Zelda was sure that her nannies of the past would have fainted at her mothering skills. But there was no one to tell them what to do. Not anymore. So they did what made them happy, as they were never allowed to do so before.

“Mornin’” Link rasped out in that husky, just roused from sleep voice that Zelda had come to love. He peered a hooded eye down at Liliya, whose mouth was open against the crook of his arm, the dark pool of the fabric around her signifying how deeply asleep she truly was.

“She’s worn out,” Zelda said softly. Link pressed a gentle kiss to her hair and turned his gaze to Zelda. 

“Long day”

Zelda hummed and began to play with his hair, running her slim fingers through his waves. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He liked that. She could tell by the way a smile played on his lips and he seemed to sink back into his pillow. She would give away ten kingdoms for that moment, she thought. To see her hero so uninhibited. She wondered how many unfortunate men and beasts had looked upon the stoniness of his face as they took their last breath. The Hero of Hyrule. The Hero of the Wild. Farore’s Champion. Her husband, the man who liked berries on his crepes and who often put his shirt on backwards. She giggled at the thought and he cracked an eye at her.

“What?” she laughed. 

He raised an eyebrow and carefully rolled Liilya off his arm before crawling over to Zelda and catching her in a kiss that left her as breathless as if it were their first. It was like that all the time. The spark between them. He smiled against her mouth as she ran her hands under his shirt, feeling the ridges of the scars on his abdomen. It had taken time, but they no longer brought her grief like they once had. She knew they signified his return to her. Her blessing. Her second chance. Link caught her hands as they skirted his lower abdomen and scolded her with a laugh in his eyes. 

“ _ Zelda, _ ” he nearly groaned, “Careful now. Little ears and eyes”

“Little ears and eyes that are sleeping,” she teased with a playful pout as she pulled him down beside her. 

“You’re awful,” he laughed, snuggling into her side. 

They lay that way for some time, listening to the cadence of Liliya’s small snores which were soon joined by another. Zelda looked down to find that Link had fallen back to sleep in their embrace. She hadn’t realized how much their journey had worn him down. She sighed deeply and turned into him, closing her eyes as she willed herself to find her well needed rest as well.

Liliya woke to the sound of light knocking on their door sometime later. She shot up, her body seemingly immediately energized by her slumber, and looked at the sleeping forms of her parents beside her. She wondered if she should wake them. They were so boring when they were asleep. But they were so  _ snuggled  _ and  _ cozy  _ and she liked that she could do whatever she liked when they were sleeping. Maybe she would find some sweets to sneak from her father’s saddlebags _.  _ He thought she didn’t know they were there, but he was terrible at secrets. Another knock caught her attention and she lowered her small body to the floor and tiptoed towards the door, opening it ever so slightly as she’d seen her mother do in Hateno when they weren't expecting company.

“Oh!” squeaked the tall woman before her that she did not recognize from the day before. Her hair was white as clouds on a clear day and she had a very peculiar mark on her forehead. Liliya wondered if she had gotten in trouble for drawing on herself like she would have. Her Papa did not like when she did that, even though it was always Mama that scolded her for it. Papa only scolded when she’d injured or endangered herself.  _ It’s my job to keep you safe,  _ he would say with a frown that settled all across his face. She didn’t like when he frowned. He was much sillier when he smiled. So she tried to be careful, but sometimes adventure required a little taste of danger. 

“Hello, little one! I was hoping to speak to your parents, are they here? I assume they wouldn’t leave you,” the woman asked, a laugh growing in her voice. Liliya decided that anyone who was brave enough to draw on their face was someone she wanted to know so she opened the door further. 

“They are too sleepy today,” Liliya said as the woman peered into the doorway. She startled backwards upon seeing the couple lumped together on the bed, her face turning the shade of a fresh strawberry. It made Liliya’s stomach growl. She was hungry.

“Oh, I suppose I can come back another time then,” the tall woman stammered, brushing her hands across her neatly pressed robes as if to wipe away some imaginary wrinkles. 

“What’s your name?” Liliya asked, too intrigued by the woman to let her slip away just yet. 

“Paya. I am a friend of your father’s”

“Oh. I’m Liliya” 

Paya smiled down at the child, whose long sleep dress was wrinkled and hanging off one of her shoulders. Her blue eyes sparkled in the morning light, reminding her of the soothing waters that surrounded the Goddess statue near her home. She was a very small child, though Paya sensed she was not to be underestimated. How could a child of a champion and Hylia’s incarnate not be a force to be reckoned with? She giggled at the thought. The tiny child, with a fairy’s dusting of freckles across her nose and cheeks, her dirty blonde hair tangled in loose knots and waves around her head, looked up at her and smiled, two dimples punctuating her infection grin. 

“Who are you talking to?” she heard Link’s groggy voice call from the bed. He hadn’t bothered to even open his eyes. Paya stifled a laugh, imagining that the child must talk to herself frequently enough not to startle him. 

“A nice lady at the door,” Liliya answered 

That seemed to startle him, however. He leapt from the bed, nearly causing Zelda to fly off the mattress herself. 

“Liliya! You can’t just - oh,” he said as he noticed Paya standing shyly in the doorway, “Paya! Please, come in” 

He shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair before offering a hand to Zelda and pulling her from bed. 

“I’m sorry, I thought... _ ”  _ he whispered to her, guilty at having woken her so suddenly.

“It’s quite alright,” she replied with a light squeeze to his forearm.

“Please pardon me for interrupting your rest,” Paya said from the doorway, “I can come back another time”

“There is not rest once that one is awake, so no harm,” Zelda replied, pointing a finger at Liliya who had began to investigate the new space she was in, “Please, you may come in” 

The three adults sat around the room’s small table and Paya folded her hands in her lap.

“Grandmother did not rest after you left. She tries to conceal things from me but I could tell she was hurting. She’s grown frail since we last saw you. I worry…”

Zelda crossed her arms across her chest and leaned back in her chair. It was so like Impa to send Paya to clean up her mess. It made her heart race with agitation. 

“Is she unwell?” Link asked, the genuine concern in his voice catching Zelda by surprise.

“No, no, it’s just her age. She is nearing a century and a half by now. After seeing the two of you yesterday. I mean, the three of you...” she said, nodding towards Liliya who had found her mother’s journal to scribble in.

Zelda tensed at Link’s side and he put a gentle hand over the first she had made. 

“Zelda,” he said, his voice calm and smooth, running a thumb over her balled hand. She sighed and relaxed at his touch. 

“Grandmother does find it quite difficult to admit when she has made a mistake. And what transpired those years ago, it was a mistake. She knows that. Now she fears she has thrown away even more time she could have spent with you. Please, Zelda, you are like family. Go and see her again before leaving Kakariko. She will be heartbroken to have your anger as her last visage of you”

Zelda turned from Paya to look at Link, tears forming in her eyes. His expression was soft. She wished she could harness the forgiveness he seemed to carry so easily. Her bitterness sat heavy across her shoulders. A familiar weight.

Before she could answer, Liliya climbed into Link’s lap, digging her knees into the tops of his thighs, two hands braced on his shoulders.

“Is Paya your friend?” she asked with the tilt of her head. 

“Yes, darling”

“But Mama is your best friend?”

Zelda laughed softly and blushed as Link replied, “But of course,” with a sly grin in her direction.

Zelda felt the burdens begin to soothe across her heart. Liliya never ceased to remind her of her freedom, the living embodiment of her choices that no one could take from her. She was hers as she was his and the warmth that flooded her being at the thought was enough to push away anything else. 

“And I am your bestest friend in the whole world, right?” Liliya said as she held his face as one might hold an apple they were about to take a bite of. 

“In the whole world,” he smiled as he nimbly ran his fingers up her sides to tickle her. 

Her laugh was so full of love that even Paya seemed to feel it, grinning at the family from where she sat across from them. 

“Stop it, Papa! I’m hungry!” Liliya laughed before scrambling out of his reach and reaching for Zelda. Zelda pulled her into a deep hug and peppered her head with kisses, earning more giggles from the wiggling child. 

“Well, I believe there is a rather large breakfast at Grandmother’s and I can see about shooing away some of those pesky dignitaries if you’d like. Oh, and we could invite Dorian and his girls! They would be delighted to meet another child,” Paya said.

“There’s other children here?” Liliya nearly shouted, “Let’s go mama, let’s go!” 

Zelda looked at Link with her brows raised in a silent question that he seemed to answer with his eyes.  _ Where you go, I go. _

“Well, alright. But not with your hair looking like it might house a flock of birds,” Zelda teased towards Liliya, who swiftly avoided her mother’s touch as she leapt from her arms, but straight into Link’s, who had caught her before she even knew he was after her. 

“No fair!” she grumbled as he playfully wrestled her onto the bed where Zelda combed through her thick waves before pulling it into a Sheikah style bun with two spirals hanging down to frame her small face.

“Oh, she is precious,” Paya beamed from the doorway, “I am happy you have found happiness in one another. I truly believe that grandmother will see that too. Please, try to have patience with her. She’s a relic from an old time trying to find her place in the new world,”

Link nodded in her direction as he fastened the last of his belts across his waist. Zelda walked towards him and ran her hands through his hair in a halfhearted attempt to soothe it, or perhaps herself, before sighing and turning to Paya, “Then perhaps we must teach her about the new world together” 

Paya bowed deeply before turning in the doorway. 

* * *

True to Paya’s word, Impa’s home was empty of any unsavory guests. Only Impa, Paya, Dorian, and his girls awaited the young family upon their arrival. Cottla and Koko, who were slightly taller than the last time he’d seen them, practically flew to Link as he walked into the doorway. 

“MASTER LINK!” they yelled in unison, buzzing around him like a swarm of bees. They were so insistent on garnering his attention that Link had to let go of Liliya’s hand just to contain their excitement. 

“We missed you!” 

“Where did you go?”

“Did you slay ALL the monsters in Hyrule?”

“Will you make us a snack?”

“Will you play with us?”

Link laughed and picked both of the girls up in his arms, “Oh I’ve missed you too! Look how you’ve grown!”

Liliya stood off to the side watching the exchange without trying to hide the frustration across her face. Who were these children that acted like her Papa was  _ their  _ Papa? Did he make those girls snacks before he made them for her? What did he play with them? Were they his favorite instead? She stuck out her bottom lip and she sulked beside him. Zelda watched the exchange with a laugh brewing. Liliya was always jealous of Link’s attention, even from Zelda. When she had been smaller, she had cried when watching her parents kiss or display any type of affection in front of her. Naturally, Link found it quite humorous and would find every reason to hug Zelda or even carry her around the house just to see the way Liliya would react, only to smother her tears away with his affection afterwards. Zelda told him he was spoiling her, but he didn’t see any harm in it. 

“Girls! Leave him be and come have a seat!” Dorian called from the low table around which the other Sheikah were seated on the floor. The obedient children shuffled back into their positions as Liliya pulled at Link’s sleeve, raising her hands in the air in that universal way children do when they want to be held. 

“What’s wrong?” Link asked her as she continued her very dedicated pout into his shoulder. 

Zelda leaned in to whisper at him, “She’s jealous”

“Oh,” he smiled as he held her closer to him. He would be lying if he said he didn’t relish the affection Liliya gave him. He had been made to feel disposable by so many others in his life that having someone dote over him like something worth being jealous over made filled him with a sense of purpose. He could not remember his own childhood, therefore a deep part of him longed to experience the wonder of it right alongside her. And so he did. He joined in her play, chasing her around their Hateno home, stopping to inspect the array of insects that would inevitably catch her eye. She reminded him so much of Zelda in those moments, her face inches away from a beetle so as to better see how it flexed its wings or opened its jaws. 

Her sullenness was quickly swept away by the sight of the food on the table and she began to happily wiggle in his arms. 

“Papa! Look, they have tea here!” she exclaimed as if tea weren’t a common place commodity. 

“I see, darling, would you like some?”

“Yes, please”

Impa eyed them warmly from her place at the head of the table. Zelda was rather u nsuccessfully attempting to avoid eye contact with the Sheikah woman as she awkwardly made her way to the place Paya had saved for them at the table. Liliya settled at Link’s side and Zelda instinctively shifted towards him so that as much of their physical space was shared as possible. She found she much preferred it that way. Somehow just his presence made her feel safer. 

“I want to thank you dearly for coming,” Impa finally spoke up, “I had worried you would have left after our...lively conversation yesterday and I would never see you again…” The sadness in the elder’s voice wormed its way into Zelda’s heart, try as she might to keep it under lock and key, “though I suspected I could wrangle this one here by mention of a meal” she laughed, nodding towards Link who offered up a sheepish smile beside her. 

Zelda was taken back to her time as a child when a much younger Impa would collect her from her devotionals to the seemingly deaf Goddesses to teach her Sheikah history, which she found much more riveting. She had even managed to sneak her away from the sacred pools to allow her to participate in the festivals her Father had banned her from, claiming they were a distraction to her duties. Impa would tuck the small girl into the long curtains of her skirts, sneaking her sweets from the various carts and vendors that lined the streets. They would hide in the shadows together to watch the light displays that marked the changing of the seasons, Zelda's eyes widening at the beautiful display. Between Impa and Urbosa, who also stole the girl away for similar undisclosed activities, Zelda had managed to survive the man her Father had become after the death of her mother. 

“You know I would never wish for that,” she said quietly, to which Impa sagely nodded and lifted her tea cup to her thin lips. Zelda inwardly sighed. It seemed Impa was at least trying to soothe the burn of the fire they had built together. She briefly wondered what it would take to extinguish it and if the wound would ever truly heal. 

“Is Master Link really your Papa?” Cottla asked Liliya as she shimmied closer to the girl’s side, thoroughly captivated by the presence of another child similar in age that wasn't her sister. Liliya eyed the larger child suspiciously as she searched the table for her own tea cup.

“He’s not a master, he’s just a Papa,” she replied as the Sheikah child picked up the kettle and poured her a glass. Link watched the exchange with a curious side eye as he laid into the Sheikah delicacies before him. Oh, how he’d missed Paya’s cooking. Though Zelda tried, if Link wanted an edible meal he had to make it himself. He leaned back and savored the moment, hoping Zelda would let go of some of her tension and join him. He had learned to trust his instincts long ago and now he no longer felt threatened in the Sheikah village. He trusted Paya and Dorian. If they were at rest, he could be too. 

“And Miss Zelda is your mama?” Cottla continued. 

“Mhmm” Liliya said as her eyes roamed the table for her next target; a small jar of honey. 

“So that makes you a hero princess!” Cottla exclaimed, waving her small arms in the arm to animate the statement.

Zelda nearly choked on her tea as Link raised an eyebrow. They hadn’t quite explained their identity to her. As far as Liliya was concerned, Zelda and Link were just grand adventurers, not Princess and Hero. She had no concept of calamity, for its presence in her life was irrelevant, a fact that Zelda indulged heavily in, having drowned in it during her own formative years. Liliya simply giggled at the comment as she took great pleasure in slowly stirring her tea, watching the honey she had drizzled inside slowly dissolve. Zelda thanked the Goddesses for the innocence of her mind as well as her small attention span. Impa, however, frowned at the exchange.

“She doesn’t know who you are? Who she is?” she asked, trying to be careful with her tone. She knew Zelda’s fuse was likely to be short and wasn’t ready to ignite it just yet.

“She knows enough,” was Zelda’s only reply. 

Zelda’s short exchange was enough to catch Liliya’s attention again as she had grown tired of watching the honey swirl. She looked at the woman sitting at the end of the table and squinted her eyes, trying to focus on the funny beads that lined the hat she was worried was much too large for the small woman’s head. She wondered if she slept inside the hat at night like a cat, all curled up inside the tip of it. Liliya thought the woman could have been well over 1,000 years old for all the wrinkles across her face and the way her tiny body seemed tired with every movement it made. 

Zelda could read the look on Liliya’s face as clearly as the open page of a book. The way she tilted her head and frowned as her brows sunk low on her face. She knew the endless stream of questions that were firing inside the child’s head. She always told Liliya that questions were the only way to understand the world.  _ There’s never a dull question,  _ she had told her one evening as she tucked her into bed,  _ or an answer not worth searching for.  _ She prayed at this particular moment that Liliya would have forgotten that one bit of motherly advice, like she often forgot to wash her hands before eating or to take her shoes off before climbing into bed. Link, sensing Zelda’s apprehension, placed a delicately woven pastry on the child’s plate and she was lost to the intoxication of sweets, her questions all but forgotten. She smiled at him.  _ My hero,  _ she laughed to herself.

As the delicate balance of breakfast swayed back to the side of normalcy, Dorian decided to chime into conversation, asking the couple about their life in Hateno. They politely described their peaceful comings and goings of the small village. Zelda’s vegetable garden out front, the tree house Link had attempted to build for Liliya before falling through it. 

“So there is something he isn’t immediately the master of,” Dorian laughed, “Good to know” 

As the adults conversed, Liliya was busy learning the correct way to eat the variety of new foods before her. This was not like the food her Papa made for her, which she could easily plop into her mouth. These foods were  _ delicate  _ and required nimble fingers to fold and dip a certain way. She was entranced and convinced her father  _ must  _ learn to make these treats for her for now she could not live a single day without them. As the girls’ stomachs began to settle, their taste for more kinetic activities grew. Soon, they were begging their respective fathers to go outside to play. 

Link looked to Zelda who looked down nervously. She glanced to Impa who eyed the family with a sadness that clung to the corners of her face. Zelda sighed and tucked a strand of his hair behind his long ear. She made a note to herself that perhaps it was time to cut it. 

“It’s alright. Go on,” she told him. 

Link faltered a moment as he looked between Liliya, who was excitedly jumping around at his feet, and Zelda, who held a more pensive look. He didn’t like the idea of leaving her alone, though he had slowly began to feel more at home back in Kakariko now that he realized no one was rushing to separate them from him. He enjoyed seeing Dorian and Paya and the girls again and he hoped that Zelda and Impa could soothe the scars that had formed over their hearts towards one another. She was like a grandmother to Zelda, after all. One of the few true connections to her past. Though he knew he would always hold a place in her heart, he could never truly count himself as a relic of her memories. He simply hadn't remembered enough for that. 

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” he asked her quietly, breaking himself from that certain unpleasant train of thoughts. 

She smiled at him and placed a hand on his cheek, “There are things we must still discuss. Perhaps it's best if its just between us anyway” 

He nodded at her and she leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, warming him where he’d been left cold at the absence of her touch where her hand had slipped away. 

“Bye Mama!” Liliya called as she waltzed out the door, Link giving her one more concerned look as he followed her out.

The room fell silent at their departure as Zelda turned slowly to Impa who was uncharacteristically gazing somewhere on the floor off to Zelda’s left. 

“It appears as though I owe you an apology” 

Zelda looked up at her old friend. Her teacher. Her mentor. One of the last familiar faces she saw before her century long imprisonment in the castle. The woman she had entrusted to guide Link on his journey after his awakening. In fairness, she did owe Impa quite a lot. But she knew she could never give her what she truly wanted. 

“So it would seem”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I lied, they hash it out next chapter. This one just got away from me in length. You've had some fluff, now look forward to some intense feelings next chapter! 
> 
> Also, my niece was also very jealous of any affection her parents showed to each other when she was a baby. We used to think it was hilarious too. I love writing kids. They're so fun.


	4. Olive Branch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So very sorry for the delay. My heart simply wasn't in it. I hope you enjoy the update. Happy Quarantine (:

Impa let out most of the air in her lungs before she raised her eyes to look upon the girl before her. No, the woman. Zelda had grown in her long absence, her face and body more mature. She had cut her long nearly platinum hair, that which had been such a symbol of the once tiny princess, into a much shorter length that kissed the tops of her shoulders. Her tanned skinned spoke of hours spent outdoors, no doubt in deep contemplation of some flora or fauna that caught her attention. The fatigue under her eyes seemed not to hold anguish as they once had, replaced with the wholesome exhaustion of raising a child. And then there was that. Zelda was a mother now too. Impa had missed everything. Her marriage. Her pregnancy. Four years of the new heir to Hyrule’s very existence. Had she been frightened to carry and birth a child? Who had helped her? Skilled as Link was, Impa had a hard time imagining him as much of a midwife. Impa nearly cried at the thought of Zelda’s suffering. Suffering she could have aided her with. 

“My Zelda, I am truly sorry. For everything. How I’ve treated you, the things I expected of you. I have been so blind and now I can see all that I’ve lost in my inability to look passed what I thought was the right thing for our kingdom,” she began. 

Zelda stood before her, her eyes stern upon the woman’s frame. Her face gave away no hint of the reaction brewing within her. Impa took a breath and continued.

“How you chose to act upon my apology is entirely your choice. Something I realize now I should have given you long ago. Just know that whatever you choose, I have given it honestly”

Zelda looked upwards briefly before shifting closer to where Impa sat, her hands curled tightly around one another in anticipation of her words. She knelt before the woman, placing her own hands gently upon the tops of her thighs. 

“All my life, I’ve been told what to do. From the moment I opened my eyes in the morning to the moment I laid down to sleep, every moment of my life was predetermined by someone else. Mother was the only one who  _ ever  _ thought to ask what it was that I wanted to do. What I was interested in. After I lost her...I lost my ability to be myself. I was a vessel. And an empty one at that,” Zelda nearly scoffed to herself, remembering vividly the bitterness that her endless hours of prayer had gifted her instead of the divine power that was promised. 

“I was told who I was. What I was to become. What was to happen if I failed. Father packed up the entire Kingdom and placed it upon my shoulders, reminding me daily that we were all  _ damned  _ if I were to falter in my piety. Piety to a Goddess who had abandoned me when I was most in need. I just couldn’t understand what I had done wrong. I was expected to give my entire life so that Hyrule may yet live,” 

Warm tears began to well in her eyes. A century of heartache boiling over within her. One hundred years of hurt and trauma that she had placed under lock and key finally breathing the new air of Hyrule. Though she burdened Link with everything else, _that_ she refused to let him carry for her. Though he would have, had she asked him to. Link barely remembered their time before the Calamity, filling those recesses in his mind with an inescapable guilt she knew he was laden with, though he swore to her he had come to terms with what had happened to him. It was the first time she had aired it all; letting the ugliness of it escape her for the first time. 

Impa could see the pain that lined her eyes. Those same pools of emerald that had shone at her on the face of a much smaller girl so very many years ago. The same pain that followed the broken child into the biting teenager she became. The silently seething princess. 

“I was dying, Impa,” Zelda continued, her eyes now cast to ground, "Every night I would dream of the calamity, some small part of me praying it would swallow me whole. At least I could die for Hyrule, since I seemed unable to live for it”

Impa’s face now swam in her own tears as she felt no longer able to contain the waterfall of emotion that befell her. Paya, who had stood silent as a statue in the stairway, put a muted hand over her mouth at the sight of her grandmother’s grief. She had never known the usually tenacious woman to so openly display her vulnerability. It was dizzying. 

“I’m so sorry, child,” Impa stuttered, “I have been so  _ blind” _

“That was until Link,” Zelda said, lifting her face so that Impa could finally see her, pale and blotched with crimson as it was, “It took me some time. Of course you know this. At first I was unable to see past my own projections. He made it too easy for me to despise him, though I realized much later it was myself that I truly hated. He simply let me do it and as we all know, I heavily indulged…”

“That poor boy,” Impa said, remembering yet another ghost of a despondent child that had haunted her dreams for nearly a century. The tiny Hylian boy who obeyed her every command and kept his heart under lock and key. She had seen his obedience as a valiant attribute at the time, focusing her attention to Zelda’s well being instead. 

“He saved me, Impa,” Zelda continued, “He was the first person to ever choose  _ me.  _ Not the Princess, not the heir, not my sealing powers, but  _ me.  _ Did you ever wonder why we were so close to Kakariko when…” her voice faltered at the memory. She could almost smell the cinders on his skin, hear his muffled cries of pain, see the way his eyes went glossy and his body slacked against her. 

“Why you were running away from the castle instead of towards it?” Impa considered the notion, “I hadn’t given it much thought, I always assumed…”

“He was bringing me here,” Zelda looked up at her, a soft smile lifting the corners of her tear sodden face, “Not because he thought it would help defeat the calamity, but because he knew you were here and would keep me safe. I think he knew, Impa. He had decided to give his life for mine and then he…”

“Come, child,” Impa said through her own tears as she outstretched her arms. Zelda rose to meet her and they embraced, a century of heartache melting into the fold of their bodies. 

They cried together for some time before Zelda finally pulled away. 

“I couldn’t understand why you were so harsh to him when we finally returned. It was as if we were in the castle again, pawns to be used and discarded. I watched him struggle for  _ months  _ to return to me. The nights he spent alone, not knowing who he was or what had happened to him. He nearly died countless times in his journey after the shrine, but he never stopped. When we met eyes again in the field after...I knew he had changed, but so had I. It was as if I was complete again” 

Zelda leaned back on her heels, “For once, I wanted to choose him like he chose me”

“I was wrong, child, You know I’ve never been good at admitting that” 

Zelda let a small laugh escape through her tears.

“After the castle fell and we lost your father, I found myself solely responsible for keeping what little of Hyrule remained alive. When Link stumbled in here after a century of slumber with no recollection of who he was or even who I was I feared we had lost him too. I decided to use him as a tool to retrieve you, with no regard to his thoughts on the matter. I thought that was all he had become. I see now how wrong I was,” Impa said.

“But Hyrule _ is _ alive, Impa,” Zelda said softly, holding the aging woman’s hands in her own, “I’ve seen it with my own eyes. The people are rebuilding. Thriving. They haven’t needed me for 100 years. Why should they need me now?”

Impa closed her eyes and imagined the Hyrule of her past. The bustling streets of Castletown, the thick scent of lumber and smoke in the air; the cacophony of life floating across the cobblestones. Relics of the past. 

“But we could be so much  _ more, _ ” she lamented.

Zelda was gentle as she straightened the creases that manifested on the elder’s clothing during their embrace, much like she would straighten Liliya after a particularly rough bout of pouting. The motherly touch was not lost on Impa, who smiled at the young woman’s growth. 

“We have given so much in the battle for what was lost, let us live and be grateful for what we still have” 

Impa’s eyes lit up with joy as she let her sorrow escape in a deep exhale that seemed to cleanse her very soul.

“Hylia’s wisdom, indeed” 

Zelda let go her own breathe as she settled back in her own space to pour herself another cup of tea. The pair were quiet for a moment as the sound of little girls’ laughter sneaked its way through the cracks of the door. Zelda smiled at the thought of Liliya playing with the little Sheikah children. She wondered if they had roped Link into chasing them or if Liliya was keeping him all to herself. 

“What have you told her of your past?” Impa asked quietly.

“She knows that Link and I are her parents and she is loved beyond all measure. That is enough,” Zelda replied, a hint of authority in her voice. Impa looked at her with confusion.

“She knows nothing of you being the rightful Queen? Nor her father the hero of legend?”

“I don’t have to convince her that Link is a hero. In her eyes, he already is. She has no concept of royalty nor the calamity. All she’s known is peace and love and I would like it to stay that way. Neither myself or Link received any semblance of a true childhood and we both agreed to give her the best we are able. If I were to tell her the truth, it would break her heart”

Impa stirred her own fresh cup of tea in contemplation. 

“Zelda, my dear, you know better than I what you’ve given her. Hylia’s blessing must live within her too. In what way it will manifest now is up to the Goddess, but…”

“If you think I expect my child to endure the same torture I did, you have truly gone senile in your old age,” Zelda bit back, the sternness across her features very much reminding Impa of her late Father.

“I suppose we shall see with time,” she smiled sadly as Zelda slowly deflated once again. It quietly amused Impa that of all her attributes, she had managed to maintain her quick temper. 

“She is who she decides to be. Hylia’s blessing or not. There is no reason for the sealing power any longer. I will not have her seek that which she does not need”

The sound of the floor slamming open broke Impa from her thoughts as she watched the small, red faced child bound towards Zelda who now wore a smile across her face that seemed to light up the room. 

“Hey, mama!” Liliya said between deep breaths as she nearly skipped towards her mother. 

“Hello, my sweet”

“I can run very much fast. Even faster than Koko!” Liliya exclaimed. 

Zelda pulled the little one into her lap. Liliya held back a yawn as she snuggled into her mother. 

“Is that so?” Zelda asked with a bright enthusiasm as she shifted their bodies to fit more comfortably together. 

“Oh yes. We ran all the way up that big hill and down so many times. I am very much faster than Papa, even though he is a cheater,” Liliya bumbled through her yawn as one her hands came to rub at her eyes.

“Are you tired?” Zelda asked.

“No” 

“Of course not,” Zelda laughed as she began to play in the soft spirals of her hair. 

Liliya lay very still in her mother’s lap as she stared at Impa who was looking on at the two with a warmth in her eyes. Impa watched as a heaviness grew across the child’s lids, the rhythm of her blinking gradually decreasing. 

“Mama,” she whispered, “are you still mad?”

Zelda looked up at Impa who carefully met her eye, “No, darling. Impa and I are old friends. Sometimes friends fight, but you must always find a way to come back together”

Liliya hummed in reply as she was now too gone for words. Soon, the child was fast asleep in her mother’s arms and a comfortable silence fell over them until Impa called for Paya. 

“I believe the child has the right idea. I need to retire myself,” Impa declared as Paya rushed to her side. Zelda watched as Paya carefully lifted the aging woman and led her towards the stairs. She felt a pang of sadness as she watched the scene before her. She remembered a time when Impa could knock even Link off his feet in training, a feat not many had the pleasure of flaunting. Now she seemed so fragile, as if she may crumble and be carried away with the wind. The thought sat heavy upon her heart. 

“Out already?” a voice behind Zelda called, causing her to startle. Liliya shifted in her arms but murmured herself back to sleep. 

Zelda turned and found Link grinning at the pair, his own flush painted across his cheeks from playing with the children outside. His smile slowly faded as he nodded to Impa before reaching into Zelda’s lap to transfer the sleeping child to his own arms. 

“Can’t we just rest here a moment?” Zelda complained as she held the child tighter, “She hardly ever falls asleep on me. She always picks you,” 

“It’s because I’m so comfortable,” he teased as she pouted back at him, “You would know” 

She tried to ignore the blush that came across her cheeks before swatting at his arm, grabbing his bicep to hoist herself off the floor. Link watched carefully as Paya shut the door to Impa’s bedroom before leaning in to speak softly in her ear.

“Come, I must speak with you about something,” 

Zelda felt her heart leap in her chest at the seriousness of his voice. Somehow she knew it would not be something she did not want to hear. 


	5. Hero's Request

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got me on a roll. Here's another short one.

The children ran around the village like a pack of puppies. Liliya, being the smallest, naturally trailed behind. But what she lacked in stature, she more than made up for in energy. Somehow she had roped them into a downhill race, which turned to two races, which turned to several. Link had taken to riding an old shield down the hill, which gained him a few furious glares from his little one as she dismissed him from the game for being a cheater. He settled beside Dorian with a huff as the girls climbed the hill for a countless time. 

Dorian shifted beside him and let his arms come to rest at his sides, absentmindedly rubbing the hilt of the sword at his belt.

“I’m surprised you came”

Link side eyed him as he caught his breath and kept a trailed eye on Liliya, who was one curious thought away from plummeting off the hill entirely. She was far too like him in that regard.

“After everything that happened…”

“I can see why they thought the way they did,” Link began.

Dorian turned to eye the man standing beside him. Gone was the scrappy boy who had stumbled in from Hyrule field without even knowing his own name. Link had grown, matured. He now stood at least a head over Zelda, his shoulders broader, a soft wisdom across his brow that came from a lifetime in two different worlds. 

“Those...what do you call them? Councilmen? Is it still considered royalty?” Link asked. 

“Just a group of power hungry men with recognizable surnames found in old tomes, nothing more,” Dorian said, not trying to hide his irritation. 

Link smirked and leaned back in a more relaxed stance. He liked Dorian. He had quickly found a friend in him after rediscovering Kakariko. He was a loyal man despite his past and Link had grown to respect him deeply for that. 

“They saw me as a monster. I see that now. Maybe I was. Raised from the dead. No memory of who I was. A living relic of the past. It must have been mystifying to them. Men always fear that which they don’t understand”

“Those who call you a monster should take a look at their own reflection,” Dorian scoffed as he watched a few noblemen scurry about the small village where they had taken up residence in hopes of finding new power, “you did not ask for your destiny” 

“No,” Link affirmed, “but I did ride a talus very close to a settlement in Hebra once”

Dorian threw his head back in a hearty laugh as he clapped Link on the back.

“I have no doubts, my friend,” he laughed.

“But I didn’t do it because I had lost my mind. I did it to train. Everyday I looked upon that beast encircling the castle and I felt this...pull. Though I held no memory of the calamity, I knew it was my duty to stop it, to save her. I was doing all I could to prepare”

Dorian put a reassuring hand on Link’s shoulder, momentarily breaking his careful vigil of the children who had finally slowed their running in favor of making crows from weeds. 

“You don’t have to justify your actions, Link. I trust you. I always have,” Dorian vowed. 

Link nodded and looked back at the girls, smiling at the way Liliya seemed entranced by their every movement, her eyes darting back and forth as she tried to mimic the way they wove the blades of grass together. He wondered how long it would take her to find him to assist her when she inevitably got frustrated and quit. It was a habit he was working to break in her, to build resilience. 

“Which is precisely why I have something to ask of you,” Dorian’s voice brought Link back to their conversation. He turned his head to look at the man who now could not meet his eye. 

“They’ve been threatening my daughters lives again,” he said, nearly emotionless as he stared out blankly before him.

“I haven’t seen any in more than two years. Last I heard, they were a dying breed,” Link replied in a hushed tone, leaning closer to Dorian in an attempt to keep their shared words from breaching the safe space between them.

“Yes, their numbers have certainly dwindled, but they still hold resentment towards anyone who has wronged them. You may have stripped the land of malice, but they hold onto the last wisps of it as if it is their dying breath. They have eyes here still. They will see Zelda with Impa and make their own connections. They will see her as a threat,” Dorian tread carefully, knowing the weight of his words as he tipped his head towards Liliya who was softly rubbing her face with the back of her hands, trying to wipe away her fatigue.

Link stiffened at his side, feeling the easy comfort that he had slowly built around his heart begin to crumble away, exposing the raw fear he could feel bubbling inside him. He should have known better than to assume he could ever have normalcy. The thought ate away at him as he watched Liliya play, her cheeks as red as the skin of an apple and just as sweet. She had never known danger, he had made sure of it. What would she do in the face of a Yiga soldier? Would she scream? Would she blame him? The thought turned acrid in his stomach.

“What do you suggest we do”

Dorian took a deep breath before laying it out. 

* * *

“Absolutely not!” Zelda hurdled the words at him as if their presence would knock the thoughts from his head. She stood mere inches away from him with Liliya deep in her nap behind them, sprawled across their bed in the inn like a ragdoll tossed from a great height, her mouth slightly open, a small puddle of drool darkening the sheets under her cheeks. Zelda knew the child would not wake soon and had fully intended on taking every advantage of those precious moments until Link had chosen to ruin it.

“Zelda, please, you’re not listening to me!” he insisted, trying to take her hand in his own before she pulled it away. 

“I will hear no more of it. You are needed  _ here.  _ With our daughter. With me. You owe no one anything. I will not send you into that viper’s nest. They haven’t bothered us in years. Why should we throw ourselves into that danger now?” she was pacing before him, punctuating every mark with a finger in the air before his face. 

Link sighed deeply and sank into the deep lounge chair behind him in defeat, his face in his hands. He had expected her to be stubborn, but he hadn’t expected a total shut down. 

“Link”

He felt her hands on the tops of his thighs as he let his own fall from his face to see her kneeling before him, the anger slowly receding from her features, replaced with gentle concern. It was only then that he noticed the ring of red around her eyes. How tired she looked. He had completely brushed over her time with Impa without stopping to ask how it went or how she was feeling. He groaned, letting his head fall over the back of the chair, covering his face with his hands once again. 

“I just keep making your day more difficult, don’t I?” he mumbled to the ceiling as Zelda reached for his hands, bringing his face down to meet hers. 

“You know I love you,” she breathed into his hands.

“I know”

“And I just don’t want to lose you”

“You aren’t losing me”

Her eyes shot to his face, lined with worry, “Don’t you promise that,” she whispered sharply, “don’t ever promise me that” 

“I just want to keep you safe,” he said as he leaned into her touch, “Keep Lili safe. And Cottla. And Koko. The Yiga have been allowed to fester long enough. It’s time we ended it” 

She searched his face for any hint at the emotions raging within him, but only found his steely resolve. He would never stop being her guard, even as she begged him to simply be with her. To hold her, to listen to her, to stand beside her, that was all she ever wanted. But he would never stop being her hero. Hyrule’s hero. Who was she to deny him that?

“Just give me time,” 

At that he simply nodded, falling back into his usual silence as he studied the back of her hands. She sighed and climbed into his lap, much like a child. He laughed softly at her clambering on top of him and adjusted to hold her weight as she settled against him.

“You know, you really are quite comfortable,” she said as she ran her hand across his chest. 

“Must be my muscles,” he smiled into her hair, trying not to flinch as she lightly tickled across his skin. 

She playfully scoffed at him before lifting his shirt and grabbing a handful of his side, “this is not muscle, my love, this is fruitcake” 

“Hey!” he wiggled beneath her as she took the opportunity to frisk him, sending them both into a fit of muffled laughter as they wrestled in the lounge chair. 

“You’re going to wake her up!” Zelda snickered as she smoothed his tunic back over his side and leaned back to look at him. 

“If she wakes up, you have to entertain her. If I have to run down that hill one more time I’ll just keep going won’t come back”

“Well excuse me for hashing out a five year disagreement while you  _ played,  _ oh valiant knight of Hyrule!” Zelda sneered as he grinned at her. 

“And did you?” he asked, cocking his head to the side to get a better look at her. A small part of him enjoyed pushing her buttons, to see the way her neck flushed and her eyes crinkled at the edges. She was truly his Zelda in those moments. Not the Princess, but Zelda, the girl who could burn a kitchen down while making soup and could throw insults alongside any gruff traveler at the bar. 

“Did I what?” she huffed in feigned agitation, crossing her arms before her. 

“Hash it out?”

She sighed deeply and leaned back against him, closing her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her. 

“I’ve missed her, Link. She’s grown so frail over the years and for all I’ve missed because of the  calamity, I went and insisted on losing more. As hard as it was to come back here, I’m glad we did. She practically raised me. And you, too. Though you still had a father who cared for you”

She felt him still beneath her at the mention of his father. He did not like speaking of the “before” as he called it. He felt a particular pain at the mention of his parents, or rather the black hole his lack of memory left in their place. To remember was to feel pain, he had explained to her long ago. Pain he could not reconcile. And so she had stopped pressuring him to remember the past and began working with him to build a future full of new memories, ones that would fill him with life and joy. 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“It’s okay,” he whispered back, giving her a light squeeze.

“Sometimes I just talk without thinking” 

They were quiet for a moment before she felt rather than heard him laugh.

“Only sometimes?” 

She turned in his grip to glare at him as a smile grew across his face, chasing away the  sorrow that had briefly hung there. 

“That’s for saying I’m fat,” he grinned at her. 

“Oh that is hardly what I said!” she grumbled, yet again choosing to lightly smack him across the chest. She hardly had time to finish the movement before he caught her in a sweet kiss and she melted into him, never able to resist. 

“You will think about what I said earlier though, right?” he asked quietly as he pulled away, always leaving her wanting more. 

She stared at him a moment, trying not to imagine blood spattered across his face or his body littered with Yiga arrows as he lay lifeless across the desert floor. 

“Give me time” 

“I’d give you anything” 

It was her turn to grin mischievously as his eyes widened. It would seem they still had time to take advantage of after all and Zelda decided not to waste a second more. 


	6. Remembering Again

Morning found Kakariko as it always had, softly tucked away from the rest of Hyrule, a tranquil and peaceful gathering of what Sheikah remained from the calamity. Impa had taken to staying inside her home as she grew older. She found that time had been kind on her mind, but it did not extend that courtesy to her body. As village elder, she could command as she liked from the comforts of her plush pillow throne and no one once questioned it. That’s why it was a quite the surprise to Paya when she asked to bask in the sun on the front porch of their large home overlooking the sleepy village. That was where Impa found herself watching the scene below her with a quiet comfort that reminded her of simpler times.

The sun was eager to share its warmth in the village, cutting some of the morning chill and making the air all around quite pleasant, if not a touch on the cold side. That did not stop Zelda from fretting over the small child’s hood, tying it for what seemed like not the first time as she wiggled before her. Once she had the hood properly settled the child scrambled into her father’s lap as he sat before the cooking pot, his face flushed from the warmth of it. Liliya’s hood caught on Link’s forearm as she climbed under it to reach his lap and Zelda threw her hands up in defeat, a sight that caused a smile to grow across Impa’s wrinkled face. It would seem patience was still not a virtue the now Queen had mastered. 

“I want to help!” Liliya’s pillowy voice lifted up the stairs. 

“My little chef,” Link smiled down at her as he handed her an egg. 

“Now, you want to gently tap it. Once and firmly. Then pull it apart like this,” he explained, m imicking the movements with her small hands held in his own.

“Link, be careful, she will burn herself!” Zelda fussed from beside him, noticing just how close to the fire they were sitting. 

“I’ve got her, it’s okay,” he reassured her as he handed Liliya the egg from the bowl beside him. 

Liliya gingerly took the egg from his hand and hit it once on the side of the pot before squeezing it. The egg burst in her hand, the liquid contents solidifying almost instantly once they hit the hot surface of the metal before her. She gasped, her entire face lifting with the effort of it before immediately falling into a pout. Link laughed as she slouched in his arms. 

“Well, not quite. Let’s try again,” he chuckled as he scooped the failed egg into a bowl, shell and all. 

“That’s just a snack for later,” he winked at her, effectively pulling her pout back into a look of determination as he handed her another egg. 

She took it from his hand and stared at it as she slightly stuck out her tongue, a habit she had when she was concentrating. Zelda smiled at the sight of it. She was all seriousness at that moment, bundled perhaps too warm for the weather between Link’s arms. He caught her eyes for a moment and they shared a grin before turning back to watch her. She held the egg firmly as she hit it against the pan. Using both of her hands, she began to ever so slightly part the broken halves before the egg slid between the space between them, sizzling with a satisfying slurp as it settled in the curve of the cooking pot.

“I did it!” Liliya erupted, her once steady hands now eagerly clapping to applaud herself. 

“Look, Mama I did it!” Liliya bounced in Link’s lap as he lurched forward to keep her from falling into the pot herself. He placed her wriggling form on the ground beside him so he could add the rest of the ingredients himself, her attention now elsewhere as she ran to Zelda and pulled at her sleeves, pointing excitedly at the pot to ensure all of Zelda’s attention was on her accomplishment and not elsewhere. 

“Yes, you did!” Zelda beamed at her and she pulled her into her own lap and snuggled into the warmth of her coat. She smelled like smoke and felt like a puppy in her arms, all wiggles and fur and a happiness that was too much for her small form to contain. 

Link portioned out the meal as Liliya noticed their audience above them. She leaned into her father as she seemed to whisper something into his ear. He cocked an eyebrow and looked up to see Impa watching them fondly from atop the steps. He looked to Zelda who nodded before placing one of the bowls of breakfast into Liliya’s hands. Impa watched with an inquisitive eye as the small girl slowly scaled the steps, her tongue between her teeth as she kept an eye on the prize in her hand. After finally reaching the top, she stood before the elder and seemingly lost her nerve as she stood speechless, bowl in hand. 

“Why, hello little one. What have you got there?” Impa asked her, saving her from the silence that had filled the space between them. 

“I helped Papa make this,” she motioned with her whole body and she held the still steaming bowl before her, “and you can have some” 

Impa took a moment to take her in. She looked at her with earnest eyes. Link’s blue eyes, like the color of the sky at noon on a clear day. Though she was every bit her father’s daughter, particularly in the eyes, she could see Zelda too. If she squinted she could see the little Princess in her formal gown, spinning in the royal gardens with her mother. Paya’s gentle nudging at her side brought her attention back to the present as Liliya still stood before her, now a worried expression across her small face. Impa took the bowl from her hands and balanced it on her lap. She could feel the warmth of the steam passing by her frail skin on its journey upwards to the sky.

Liliya bounced idly on the heels of her feet and held her hands behind her back as if in anticipation of something. Paya stifled a laugh as she leaned forward to speak. 

“I believe she is waiting on your critique, Grandmother,” she said as she smiled at the child before her. Paya hadn’t had the pleasure of being around many children, only Dorian’s girls. But even their little faces had been touched by calamity and fear. Liliya’s was pure and curious and it was evident she had only known the warmth of love and nothing else. 

“But of course,” Impa stated in her most professional voice as she raised the wooden spoon to her lips and took a small bite. It was quite delicious and she savored it a moment before turning her attention back to the child eyeing her intently. 

“It is most excellent, I must thank you,” she told her as her blue eyes widened and then crinkled into a large grin. 

Liliya bowed and preformed a quick curtsey, before dashing down the stairs with no mind to if she skipped a few or not as she flew into her mother’s arms again. 

“Mama! She liked it! She liked it!” the child bubbled as she looked between her two parents who were sharing a moment of amusement between them. 

“That’s wonderful, darling,” Zelda cooed as she tried to smooth the fly away hairs from her round face, a task she found difficult with all the squirming, “And it was very kind of you to share”. 

Liliya beamed with pride as she began to look around her, no doubt for the next activity that would hold her attention. 

“Lili, what do you say we go on a little adventure?” Link asked as he cleaned up the cooking pot. 

Zelda shot him a curious look. He winked at her and tipped his head in the direction of the hill. Zelda’s eyebrow raised high as she remembered the magic creature that lived in the woods there and her heart warmed at the thought of what Liliya’s reaction would be. 

“Are you ready to go then?” Link asked as he extended his hand. She took it, but stood still before him, relishing the warmth of his skin against hers. Her hands were always so cold and his so warm. She used to tease him that being her personal hand warmer had been one of his knightly duties; to which he had playfully rolled his eyes. The memory still brought a smile to her face. But her smile fell slightly as she turned to look at Impa, bundled in a similar fashion to Liliya at the top of the stairs. Paya must have been worried she’d catch a chill. She had never known the woman to look so frail.

“I think maybe I will stay this time. I’ve...missed so much already,” she said quietly, turning his hand over in hers to examine the lines she had memorized there.

“Oh, okay,” he replied just as quietly as he leaned in to place a soft kiss on her cheek, trying to use the motion to hide his disappointment. Part of the joy of watching his daughter explore was watching Zelda’s reaction as well. Seeing her happy worked to rebuild the brokenness he had found within himself. She had done much to heal him since, but it was a feeling he was always chasing, “do you want me to stay?”

“No, it’s alright. I’ll be fine. You better go,” she told him as she let his hand fall from hers, “you’ve gotten yourself invested now,” she laughed as she watched Liliya tug at his sleeve impatiently. 

“I won’t be far,” he promised, letting her pull him towards the middle of town.

“I know,” she nodded, watching in pleasant amusement as the Hero of Hyrule was commanded by a little girl that barely reached his hip.

Zelda stood and watched them a moment as they slipped through town. She could hear Liliya’s constant chatter far longer than she thought she should have as Link took her by the hand and led her up the slope to the shrine. He looked back at her as they rounded the corner and she gave him a reassuring wave as she began to climb the steps to Impa’s. 

* * *

Link and Liliya crouched in the woods just off from the shrine. The tall canopy of trees shaded the noon day sun from their faces, casting them in a tinted darkness that reminded Liliya of Hateno in the evening. She briefly felt a pang of homesickness before she turned to express it to her father, but was quickly shushed as he pointed in front of them. 

“We are a visitor in these woods so we must be very, very quiet or it will run away,” he said gently as he eyed her small form crouched beside him with all the eagerness in the world pent up in the bend of her small legs.

“If you wait very patiently, perhaps it will come to us,” he said. 

Suddenly a current of nostalgia washed over Link like a wave of sickness at the sound of his own words. He closed his eyes in hopes of quelling the feeling, but it only made him sink deeper. The sounds of the forest around him faded away as he fell into memory.

_ “If you are very quiet, perhaps it will come to you,” a woman’s voice said to the child who was crouched in a similar position in a similar set of trees.  _

_ The small blonde boy carefully placed the basket of mushrooms he’d been holding on the ground and held out his small hands before him. _

_ “It has to know you mean it no harm,” the woman beside the boy explained. She sat her own basket down to kneel beside him, watching not for the small creature that skittered nervously before them, but watching him instead. Her hair was a dusty blonde, much like boy’s. Her azure eyes roamed his form fondly as the fawn he had discovered nimbly maneuvered in the foliage before them to sniff at his hands. The boy’s giggle was like a magic spell that lit up the woman’s face. She seemed to soak in the sound of it as he turned to her.  _

_ “I think it likes me, Mama,” he smiled at her, a matching set of eyes that seemed to overflow with mirth as he turned back to watch the small animal regard him curiously before darting away. _

_ “Why did it leave?” he asked, clearly disappointed. Sitting back on his heels with a pout across his face.  _

_ “He’s going back to his mother, Link” the woman explained as she placed a hand on his back, “his mother keeps him safe” _

Link gasped as he came back to the present. He could almost feel the woman’s touch on his own back, the ghost of her warmth tingling down his spine. He took a moment to steady his breath before opening his eyes, finding himself alone in the woods. Panic found him like a lighting strike as he stumbled, disoriented and dizzy, in search of the child who had disappeared from his side. He hadn’t lost himself to memory in so long. He cursed himself for allowing it to happen when he was alone with her. It was his job to protect her. His job to ensure no harm came to her. Now he had lost her. He put a hand on his racing heart as he propelled himself forward. 

It only took him a moment to find her in awe of the flowers growing around the giant fairy pod at the end of the trail. She was like a tiny fairy herself, dancing around the magical woods, twirling her skirts before bending down to get a closer look. She seemed to examine each flower before choosing one that suited her needs, plucking it as she cradled a small pile of them in the apron of her skirts. 

“Papa, these are Mama’s favorites!” she lit up as she saw him, running towards him as if nothing was wrong. 

“Do you think Mama will like these?” she asked as she held them up for his approval.

“Mama?” he asked, the buzzing in his head and the thumping of his heart overwhelming him again. He leaned down and scooped her up, desperate for the comfort of her embrace. 

“Papa are you crying?” she asked as she leaned very close to him, cocking her head to the side as she regarded his pained expression. 

He shifted her weight to one arm so he could use his other to wipe his face, finding fresh tears there. He didn't understand why he was crying or when he had started but he was eager for it to stop. 

“No,” he lied, making sure to dry his face before settling her into the crook of his arm.

“Mama will like these so much!” Lili nearly sang as she snuggled them to her chest, too distracted by her treasures to pay him much attention. 

Link saw the woman again in his mind. The way she watched the child pout with that warm smile across her face. The way her voice seemed to carry straight into his heart. He let the pang of grief that had welled up inside him wash over him momentarily before he took a deep breath and kissed Liliya on the cheek to ground himself.  _ This is here _ , he told himself,  _ this is now.  _

“She will love them,” he replied as he started their trek back to the village, hoping Zelda wasn’t too busy.

* * *

“How do you have these?” Zelda let out a breath as she shuffled through papers nearly a century old in awe. They felt delicate in her hands. She wondered how many of them had passed through her father’s hands a century prior. There were military reports, trade documents, and even some rumor mills mixed into the bunch. It felt like going back in time to read them. She could almost hear the voice of the court courtiers and the quick tapping of their footsteps down the long castle corridors as they rushed back and forth to deliver their messages with haste. 

“As soon as you and Link cleared the castle, I sent some men to retrieve what they could. I knew it was a matter of time before the entire place was looted. I couldn’t stand the thought of these documents used as kindling for some thief’s fire,” Impa said, using her still nimble fingers to leaf through the pages she had sorted before her. 

“Ah, here is the one. I found this one soon after you and Link left Kakariko. You should read it,” Impa’s voice lowered as she offered the worn document. Zelda took it timidly and began to read. 

**_Reporting is Sir Thomas Hawkins of the 1st Order of Hyrule’s Knights._ **

**_This report is to indicate a civilian and military fatality on the 5th Day of the Winter Solstice in the Province of Hateno under military surveillance. Persons included in the report include, but are not limited to: myself, along with a small company of men, Ellia Everett and Link Everett, the wife and seven year old son of Captain Lennon Everett, who was not present for the following events._ **

Zelda gasped when she saw Link’s name upon the page. Tears filled her eyes before she could continue reading. She had never known his surname or his lineage or even much about his childhood at all. He had always just been Sir Link to her before and he was just Link to her now. Given that he awoke and relied on her to provide his own first name, he had since been unable to recover enough memory to fill in the blanks himself. They had chosen to take Zelda’s surname of Hyrule when Liliya was born just for the sake of giving her one. Link hadn’t seemed upset at the gesture and she never pressed.  _ It’s time for new memories,  _ he would always say with a smile, though she could always see the hint of grief beneath the words. She knew he never wanted her to see that weakness. He always tried to appear so strong before her. But she knew him now like the sound of her own heartbeat. She could always sense the pain he buried. 

“Oh, Impa,” she cried out, clutching the paper before her, “I shouldn’t” 

Impa placed a hand upon Zelda’s in a comforting gesture as she regarded her sudden hesitation. 

“How much does he remember of his own past?” she asked quietly. 

“He only remembers  _ me _ ,” Zelda lamented, “I was so selfish when I left those images for him. I only included what was important to me and our journey together. Even back then I never stopped to ask him about his own life and he never offered. He was always just there for me. Even at my worst. Oh, Impa, what have I done?” Zelda buried her face in her palms as a fresh wave of guilt threatened to wash her away.

“Zelda, my dear, you gave him exactly what he needed to finish what you started all those years ago. I could see his resolve solidifying with each new memory he retrieved. You have done nothing wrong,” Impa spoke calmly, shuffling closer to pull Zelda into her small embrace. 

“He never truly got a choice, Impa. Never. Not then and not now. Oh Gods, I should have helped him remember his family instead of forcing my memory upon him. What if he still has family somewhere? What if they are still alive?!” Zelda suddenly felt frantic, shuffling through the papers before her, desperate to find his name again. 

“Zelda,” Impa said, “look at me” 

Zelda continued to scan the documents before her with renowned gusto. A civilian report of a broken bridge. A trade agreement with Tabantha for wheat. A request for a new nurse maiden. 

“Zelda!” Impa shouted over her distress and she saw the poor woman stiffen immediately. All at once she was a scared child again, clinging to Impa's gowns in the dark castle hallways after being reprimanded by her father once again.

“He does not,” Impa stated simply, keeping firm contact with her eyes as they scanned her face.

“He does not what?” Zelda asked with a quiver in her voice, lowering the papers in her hands. 

“He does not have more family,” Impa continued, picking up the original document she had handed Zelda before her meltdown. 

“How can you be so sure?” Zelda asked as quiet tears traced the curves of her cheeks. 

“I am sure,” she offered without promise of more detail. 

Impa sighed and placed the report back in Zelda’s hands. Zelda eyed it cautiously as if it’s contents would erupt between her fingers. She couldn’t bring herself to finish it. To provide herself with the information that he had quietly been desperate for since his awakening but never asked assistance in retrieving. 

“Read it when you feel ready. Share it with him when you feel he is ready. But remember this, my dear Princess,” Impa steadied herself, taking Zelda’s hand back in her own, “you had a century to mourn for your losses. Once he remembers it will be like losing them again for the first time”

Zelda closed her eyes and pictured his wounded face as he cried for a family long lost but just remembered. A family she stole from him. It felt like a blade across her skin. A scalding burn aching deep into her bones. She never wanted to hurt him. But would not telling him be a kindness? Or another selfish act on her part to keep him all for herself? 

“Thank you, Impa,” she said as she straightened herself just in time for Liliya to burst through the door, obscured by a comically large bundle of silent princess flowers. 

“Mama I found these for you!” she squealed as she crossed the threshold.

“They are beautiful!” Zelda replied as she looked over to the child to see Link standing in the doorway. She thought she saw the briefest hint of pallor to his complexion before he warmed at the sight of her. 

“Welcome back,” she smiled at him. 

For once, it pained her when he smiled back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These are crazy times. Have some Zelink fluff and angst to help take you away from it all. I am physically unable to write without any underlying sadness. You can thank my depression for that. I hope you enjoy anyway. 
> 
> I feel like myself again and I've fleshed out a few more chapters for this and Little Hero. Bouncing back between them helps the writing process. Also, I have been adamant about not adding surnames to these characters because it just doesn't feel right. But I felt the need to include them in an official castle report. Everett is derived from an old english surname name that means, "brave as a wild boar". I thought it fit. 
> 
> As always, let me know what you think.


	7. We're Still Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2%plot 
> 
> 98%fluff 
> 
> 0% regret

_ They lay entangled in the silky blankets he had bought for her in Gerudo Town after pretending all day to be sisters, laughing at the Gerudo’s seeming obliviousness to Link’s male form under his woman’s clothing. He had dragged her back to the bazaar and the two had made a meal of hydromelons, giggling at Zelda’s relentless teasing of him until an elderly woman had approached them with another melon.  _

_ “Since you’re eating for two,” she had winked at them as she placed the fruit in Zelda’s lap. _

_ Link sat perplexed as Zelda’s grin slowly dissolved off her face before questioning the woman.  _

_ “I’ve been a midwife for 60 years. I know a swollen belly when I see one. You should give birth in the Summer. Congratulations,” she had said before waddling away, leaving Link and Zelda in equal states of stunned silence before they ran to their room in the inn.  _

_ Now they lay together, Link’s hand resting on the now quite obvious swell of her stomach as Zelda formulated and configured on exactly how it had happened and what they were to do next. After she talked herself through her storm of thoughts she turned to stare at Link who had been oddly quiet through the whole ordeal. Before, she had been used to his reluctance to engage in her fountain of thoughts. But she quickly found that the now uninhibited Link was eager to add his opinion and especially his  _ sass  _ to their now two-sided conversations, much to Zelda’s delight. She loved the way he would twist her words into a pun or any other sort of humor that the Link from before would have never dreamed of being comfortable enough to let out of his mind. His silence now was concerning.  _

_ “Hey, are you okay?” she asked him, turning so that she could see the storm brewing in his eyes.  _

_ “Are you scared?” he questioned, his words so soft she nearly didn’t hear him.  _

_ “I lost my own mother so young. I can only hope that I am able to be for our child what she was for me. Even with what little time we had together” _

_ Link let out a warm breath and laid his head into the crook of her neck without saying a word.  _

_ “Link?” she asked with a gentle hand on his shoulder. He turned his face so that she could hear him speak, the words feather light across her skin.  _

_ “I still don’t remember” _

_ “It’s okay,” she tried to reassure him, running a hand through his hair, gently shaking loose the sand that had found its home there, "It's okay, Link. We will be okay" _

_ “I’ve remembered so much else. Why don’t I remember my family?” the pain in his voice opened a door in Zelda’s heart she’d rather have bolted shut.  _

_ It had only been months since the Calamity’s defeat. After fleeing from Kakariko, Link had promised to show her the kingdom she had saved. They skirted from settlement to settlement, stopping to admire every sunset, every creature, every family that thrived in Hyrule because of what they had done. The unbridled joy that the wild seemed to grown within Link only served to deepen her fondness for him. It hadn’t taken long before they found themselves engulfed in each other’s bodies behind every closed door or in every dark corner of her kingdom where they thought they were safe from prying eyes. Link found the deeper he allowed his heart to melt into hers, the more he remembered. But it was only her. It was always her that came to his mind. An elegant ball gown and a stiff uniform. A lesson in horse riding. A trek up a mountain. They discovered each other all over again, past and present, both of them uncovering the unmistakable changes of self that their century apart had caused, though it did nothing but bring them closer together. Although he happily wept at what he had managed to uncover, those memories that Zelda could not trigger for him still planted their seeds of unrest in his heart. His childhood. His family. His home. Those were still lost to him and nothing Zelda did could ease the bruising pain it left in its wake.  _

_ Zelda melted under his touch and turned so she could hold him proper. He cut such an imposing figure, still carrying around the sword he couldn’t bring himself to return. Ever the hero with a body littered with the evidence of his sacrifice and a stony exterior he could display in the face of any danger. Except when he was alone with her. Here, he allowed himself the privilege of trembling under her thin arms, silent tears watering her collarbone.  _

_ “Did I even have a family?”  _

_ She closed her eyes and felt her own sorrow well in the corner of them for she knew she had done this to him. He had done all that was ever asked of him; dying for her safety just as he had been told all of his life would be his greatest service for her. Yet it wasn’t, though she had never been brave enough to tell him in so many words. His greatest service for her had simply been his presence, one that kept her from losing herself in the dark on more than one occasion. _

_ “You must have,” she breathed into his hair, “I think I remember meeting your father once, but I cannot place his face nor can I remember a name. I’m so sorry. But Link…” _

_ He lifted his face, his eyes rimmed in that unmistakable flush of upset. _

_ “I do know this...We are a family now” _

_ He smiled back at her and the sight of it lifted her spirits so high she wondered if they'd fled her body.  _

_ “And you will not forget us” _

_ “Us,” he repeated, pulling her close to him and cradling her stomach again.  _

_ “All three of us,” she grinned at him before he stole it away with a kiss.  _

Zelda let the memory wash over her as she slowly blinked open her eyes. The day before, Link had come to her initially upset at the idea of having seen his mother in a memory. But that upset swiftly changed course to unwavering optimism at the fact that Liliya was perhaps the key to uncovering truths about his own youth. He had kissed her deeply and spun her around in Impa’s living space, causing Paya to blush so deeply Zelda worried it would never fade. Then Liliya had burst into her own retelling of their trip up to the fairy fountain, not content to let her Papa steal her moment of attention. She had taken advantage of the moment to tucked the castle report into her journal, determined not to break his heart just yet. Not when it was so full of hope. 

Zelda now laid very still as she let the sleep roll from her eyes in long flutters of her lashes, watching as Liliya snuggled into Link’s lap. They were sitting together on the floor, a book in Liliya's hands, as Link's arms wrapped around her. The sight made her yearn for their little cottage in Hateno. The loft that smelled of cinnamon and fresh wood. How Link would tuck Lili into her cot downstairs before returning to the loft, worming his way under their covers and into Zelda's arms. How she would always find them like this together in the mornings after Lili would drag him from bed to fix her a snack or answer the multitude of questions that had sprouted in her mind overnight. Link was always quick to rise first, allowing Zelda the privilege of sleeping longer, though she usually chose to rise with them. 

“And then the knight felt a curious wiggling in his armor. He shook his arms and a frog leapt from within” she heard the smile in Link’s hushed voice from his place on the floor. 

“Papa, that is  _ not _ the words!” Liliya scolded him in a voice that did not match his volume. She was never one for subtlety. 

“Yes it is! See here…” he continued with a mischievous grin blossoming across his face as he ran a finger across the line of words on the page, “it says the knight discovered that the frog was actually the Princess in disguise. He liked her much better that way, so he decided to keep her as his pet in a bucket of water.”

“Papa!” Liliya giggled as she fell back into him, “That is not right! A Princess cannot be a frog!” 

“And why not?” he huffed as he grinned down at her.

“Because...because...a frog cannot have a crown. It’s head is far too slippery and wet and it would slide all around!” she bubbled at him, turning away from the book to look at him. 

“How dare you question the legitimacy of my storytelling. Of course they would use a tiny ribbon to secure the crown,” he said with all the seriousness he could muster.

“You are too silly!” Liliya’s laughter was beginning to take over her whole body as she began to picture the crowned frog in her mind. 

“Sillier than this?” Link said as he fell back on the floor and ran his fingers over her ticklish sides, causing the girl to erupt into a fit of giggles above him. Link caught Zelda’s eye as they rolled across the floor and smiled up at her as Liliya climbed across him. 

“Now look what you’ve done,” he said, picking the small girl up by her under arms and turning her to face the bed where Zelda lay, “you’ve woken your poor Mama”

She ignored him as she flew to the bedside, pulling on Zelda’s arms with a gusto reserved for the very enlightened or the very young. 

“You’re up! You’re up! Now we can go outside and play with those silver hair girls!” 

“You mean Cottla and Koko?” Zelda asked with a brow raised, the corner of her mouth curved in an amused smile.

“Yes. Koko and Cottly” Liliya repeated as she nodded her head. 

“Well, close enough,” Link laughed, “What are our plans for the day?”

Zelda pulled Liliya up and into a hug, despite her protests, as she sighed and rolled on her back with the wiggling child in her arms. 

“Well, now that I know Impa is not out to imprison you or force me into servitude, I really don’t know. I planned for conflict, not this,” Zelda gestured with a free hand before using it to secure the girl in a deeper hug.  
  
“I guess that means we can do whatever we want?” Link asked as he came to sit on the bed beside her, watching with interest as Zelda tried to keep the slippery child in her arms. 

“Can’t you just let me hold you for one minute? You sit with Papa all the time!” Zelda laughed as Liliya wriggled free from her grasp and sat triumphantly free on her stomach, “and I don’t even tickle you!” 

“I like tickles!” Liliya grinned. 

“Oh, you like them do you?” Link said as he stood and crouched slowly, reaching his arms out as if in slow motion. Liliya took the cue and shrieked before trying to flee from his grasp. But she could never best him and all three of them ended up in a tangled mess of blonde hair before Zelda sat up and brushed the ruffled mane from her daughter’s eyes. 

“Would you like to go play with Cottla and Koko?” she asked fondly. 

“Yes, please!” 

“Then let’s go” 

“First, we go find something to eat,” Link interjected as he stood from the bed. Zelda and LIliya rolled their eyes at him before dressing and heading out the door. 

Impa insisted on sitting with Zelda as they sunbathed in the morning light despite the chill in the air. Link had managed to persuade the rowdy children to pursue a bout of gardening in lieu of taking turns holding onto his biceps as he carried them around town with them dangling from his arms. The two women were quietly content to watch the show until Impa broke the silence.

“I assume you lovebirds ran off to wed as soon as you fled from Kakariko,” she stated more than she asked, her eyes crinkled with humor. 

“Actually, we traveled,” Zelda replied, picking at the delicate pastry before her. Though she was quite grateful for the hospitality, she missed Link’s cooking. He always knew to sprinkle a little extra sugar in her pancakes or add another swirl of honey to her tea, “there was so much he wanted me to see. We explored all over Hyrule. It almost felt like before again...except this time there was no one to scold me for sharing a bedroll with my knight” 

“Ah, I see. Did some more…. personal exploring, I assume?” Impa asked with a raised brow and a smile on her lips. Though she was a century older, the woman hadn’t lost her sharpness. 

“ _ Impa!”  _ Zelda groaned, her face flushing with her implication. 

“I’m not a dull woman. It would appear you became pregnant shortly after leaving my supervision, am I wrong?” Impa continued. 

“Supervision!” Zelda scoffed playfully, trying to hide her embarrassment. 

“Did you marry quickly or did the child attend the wedding?” Impa soldiered on, deeply amused at Zelda’s flustered state. 

“I cannot believe you,” Zelda laughed as she readjusted in her chair, trying to fidget away from Impa’s inscrutable gaze. She felt like a teenager being chastised again. 

“At any rate, it would appear you learned from your frivolous exploring. Or rather, your hero learned how to do it properly, seeing as you only have the one,” Impa grinned as the charms on her hat jingled in the wind. Zelda groaned and buried her face in her hands, mumbling something not pleasant under her breath just out of range of Impa’s hearing. 

“What did Link learn to do properly? Has he finally stopped starting fires in inappropriate places?” Paya chimed from after she had presumably finished scrubbing the decks of their home. Zelda looked up from her hands just in time to laugh at the confused look on Paya’s face. 

“For a man so in-tune with time that he appears to bend it at his very will, he seems to have been a little slow on the draw where that was concerned,” Impa said, a wicked smile across her face as Zelda spit out the remainder of her tea. 

“Princess! Are you alright? Was it too hot?” Paya worried over her while Zelda tried to gently push her away as she choked on the remaining liquid in her throat. 

“Yes, it would appear so, Paya,” Impa said with a gleam of mischief dancing across her features. 

“Impa, if you do not cease immediately I will renounce all your titles. I do not care who gave them to you,” Zelda sputtered as she tried to wipe the tea from her face as Paya fussed over her. 

“Now you choose to wield your status, Princess? Very timely. If I had known some innocent teasing would be all it took, we could have saved ourselves years of trouble,” Impa sighed with a laugh before pulling her coat closer around her shoulders. 

“And for your information, my highly _ esteemed advisor,  _ I did not spend a good portion of my formative years in Gerudo Town to end up such a clueless woman. I would not be so quick to lay the blame solely on him,” Zelda shot back a spark of her own mischief, forming the words around a smile. 

Impa burst into laughter as Paya watched on in a state of bafflement, completely lost to the situation. 

“I knew I couldn’t trust Urbosa! She had a penchant for throwing propriety out the window. I never understood why your father allowed those visits,” Impa said with a shake of her head. 

“Oh you absolutely shouldn’t have trusted her,” Zelda laughed as she leaned back and straightened herself before letting out a long breath and settling back into the wood of the chair. 

“I miss them,” Zelda said quietly, pulling her knees to her chest as she watched Link help the girls pile mounds of dirt into small hills before placing a leaf for a flag on top, their gardening lesson long forgotten in favor of some other silly game he had invented. 

“She would be proud of you, Zelda. You must know that. All of them would be,” Impa reached out to place a wrinkled hand atop of Zelda’s own. All Zelda could do was smile weakly in return. 

“It has been too long since we had a communal feast,” Impa said with a squeeze of Zelda’s hand, “and we have much to celebrate. What say you, Paya?”

“I’ll get started right away, grandmother,” Paya replied dutifully, turning quickly on her heel to climb the steps, eager to feel useful and not so clueless again. 

“Oh, Impa. Please do not make a big fuss”

“Do you think our young hero would disapprove of a large feast of Sheikah delights? You may be Hylia’s vessel, but I doubt your cooking has much improved. I'm sure he will be appreciative,” Impa quipped with a grin back on her face. 

Zelda rolled her eyes and swatted the elder’s hand away playfully.

“It is good to have you back, Princess” 


	8. A New Light

Kakariko Village seemed to transform in a matter of hours. Long stretches of lanterns looped from house to house like garland, villagers pushed their kitchen tables out of their front doors to line them up one by one, and the smell of both sweet and savory delicacies drifted through the air. Liliya stood amongst it all in a state of amazement. Though her parents had traveled the length of Hyrule together on more than one occasion, their protectiveness had meant she really only saw Hateno and the surrounding areas with her own eyes, the rest she had to imagine from their stories. Link was convinced the moment she stepped foot from their quaint home that a tragedy would befall her. He did not trust himself well enough to protect them both, nor did he trust that he could survive losing either of them. Zelda had tried to convince him otherwise, but his stubbornness always won. It was the one argument where he would ever say no to her. So they stayed and Hateno became all of Hyrule by imagination alone. 

But now her azure eyes were rimmed gold in the lantern light and the moonlight kissed her hair which had long fallen from her Sheikah bun to trail behind her in blonde waves. Link knelt behind her and pointed to the lanterns, helping her to see the different patterns on each one. While Liliya’s focus was zeroed in on the decorations, Link’s was solely on her, and Zelda’s on him. The way his own face lit up at her smile, the way he put a hand on her back to shift her focus, the way he kissed the top of her head and ruffled her hair that was so much like his. The sight of it was so sweet, it nearly made Zelda’s teeth ache just from watching them. 

It reminded her of their time just after the calamity and their flight from Kakariko. He had asked her where she wanted to go and she had told him everywhere. His smile then had been bashful, not like the full grin she saw now. He had been unsure of himself at first and though his affection for her was evident, it took her some time to fully see it. He had treated her much the same way as he was Liliya in that moment, taking her hand and showing her the waterfalls of Zora's Domain, the mountains and valleys of Hebra, the never-ending Gerudo desert. The more he shared, the more she fell into him and him into her. At times it felt unreal that they were now three rather than two. But the love she filled them with only seemed to multiply their love for one another and that was a power that felt far fiercer than the one that now slept within her. 

Liliya’s eyes went rounder than the moon when a musician started to play a spirited tune and the villagers rose from their seats to dance. Cottla extended a hand to the girl who willingly took it, leading her away from her father to skip and leap through the small crowd, their laughing lifting and mingling with the fireflies. Link found his way back to Zelda, who pulled him into her chair. 

“She’s happy here,” Zelda commented, taking his arm into her lap and resting her head on his shoulder. 

He sighed contentedly and squeezed her hand.

“She’s happy everywhere”

She raised her head to look at him and his soft expression warmed her cheeks. 

“Then we should take her everywhere. Like we did before. Imagine when she sees a  Zora for the first time. What would she think of Sidon?”

He smiled at the thought of his friend. He hadn’t seen Sidon since he freed Vah Ruta. He wondered what they thought of him now. He wondered what any of them thought of him now. He had simply rolled into their villages with a fire in his eyes and a quest on his lips and left in much the same manner. They had treated him graciously and he had never returned. Even when he visited with Zelda, they had kept a low profile, never drawing attention to themselves. Part of him longed for anonymity and Zelda had been drawn to that same idea. When they found themselves starting a family in Hateno, it was easier to forget their past. But in Kakariko, their past was in the very air they breathed. 

“Link?” Zelda asked when it seemed he had retreated into his thoughts.

“I was just thinking,” he said, meeting her eyes again to reassure her, “I’m sure Sidon  would be delighted to meet her. He could give her a run for her money, personality wise. King Dorephan on the other hand...well...I don’t know how to introduce my wife and daughter to a man who had once considered me his son-in-law”

Zelda put a hand on his chest, “You never told me much about when you freed Vah Ruta. I didn’t want to ask if it upset you. But I’ve always wondered. They would have recognized you”

“They blamed me for it,” he said simply, lifting his gaze to watch Liliya dance, “they blamed me when I hardly had any recollection of who I was. By the time I left, I felt that things had settled somewhat, but I wouldn’t trust my judgement on that. I wasn’t exactly the most level headed at that moment”

Zelda sighed and fought the light welling of tears at the back of her eyes, determined not to let anything ruin their day. 

“I suppose you went and jumped off a cliff or blew up a mountain or tamed a wild eagle afterwards,” she smiled at him, trying to combat her own sadness and to keep him from falling into it with her. 

“Probably,” he chuckled, “I don’t need to be left unsupervised” 

“And to think you were once considered my supervision” she joked as she ran her fingers under his arms. 

“Hey!” he squeaked as she laughed at his attempts to squirm from her. 

“Papa!” Liliya grinned as she ran up to them, her round cheeks flushed and her eyes shining, “Come play with us!” 

He lifted a brow in question at Zelda who playfully groaned and pushed off of him so he could stand up. 

“Must I always share?” she pouted as he turned to wink at her. 

Liliya pulled him around the village before he decided to chase them. Their squeals only added to the merriment. 

“He’s playful now, isn’t he?” Impa asked, reminding Zelda of her presence. She blushed as she sank in her seat, unfamiliar with displaying her affections so freely in front of those who truly knew her. Years of living on her own had all but dismantled her propriety. 

“I don’t believe we had the opportunity to do much playing before” 

Impa sat on her words as memories of before washed over her. She thought to ask Zelda if she remembered their short time together as children, but decided against it. Another time, she supposed. 

“Perhaps your child will be able to enjoy the childhood the two of you lost” 

Impa’s sentiment sat heavy on Zelda’s heart as she watched Link take turns throwing the three children high in the air. She watched them for what seemed like hours until Link came to sit with a huff beside her again and Liliya stood before her, proudly displaying a cricket she had caged in her little hands. 

“Mama, look I caught-”

Her words were cut short as Link barreled out of his seat and knocked her to the ground, the head of an arrow now buried in the place where she once stood. Liliya began to cry as Link turned frantically to Zelda, who was still trying to process what she just witnessed. He practically shoved the upset child in her arms as the panic on his face finally broke through to her.

“Zelda, go!” he shouted as he unsheathed the sword that had never left his hip, even after all those years. 

“I won’t leave you!” she cried as she held the now sobbing child tightly in her arms. 

“Go!” 

He turned before she had a chance to reply, knocking another arrow off its path with a swipe of his sword. Dorian and Cado quickly joined him as a dozen Yiga soldiers appeared from smoke in the air. Without assistance to bring Impa into the safety of their home, Paya backed her into the corner where the long steps met the foundation and pulled out her own weapon, several villagers joining in beside her to create a barrier between their monarch and the danger. Zelda pushed through them and sat Liliya on the ground before her, her face smeared with tears and dirt from where she’d been thrown to the ground. 

“Papa needs my help, Lili. I need you to stay here with Impa,” Zelda said as calmly as she could, pulling her sleeve down so she could wipe the child’s face. 

“Don’t leave me!” she cried, reaching out to wrap herself around her mother. 

Zelda hugged her fiercely before pulling her back again. 

“I need you to be brave for me, my little bird. Can you do that?” 

Liliya sniffed a few times, her eyes so wide the blue seemed to disappear, before nodding, her face betraying her true emotions. 

“That’s my girl,” Zelda said as she kissed the child’s forehead and picked her up to place her in Impa’s chair. The elder caught Zelda’s eyes and more was said between them than words could convey. Impa took the little girl’s hand in her own and Liliya snuggled into her side, her crying having renewed. Zelda took an offered weapon from the nearest villager and headed out into the fray. 

Zelda had seen Link fight on numerous occasions, but the raw emotion that was steaming off of him now as he slashed his way through the line of Yiga to reach the Blademaster was astounding. His shirt was ripped and his face was spattered with blood, though she couldn’t tell whose it was. He moved like lighting, almost too quick to be seen. She ran up beside him and he nearly took her head off before he realized who she was. 

“I won’t leave you,” she declared as she faced her own opponent, using the skills Link had taught her over the years. She had long decided against being a helpless maiden. Now was her chance to prove she could protect their family as well. 

Link let out a growl before turning back to his own fight as they fought side by side. They felled what seemed like countless soldiers as time seemed to slow. At last, Link finally met the Blademaster who was clearly unprepared for his ferocity. Zelda stood and watched as he seemed to dance around the larger man, bending his body around the long curved blade before jabbing him with motions of his own. At last, the Blademaster fell in a heap to the ground and Zelda found herself letting go of a breath she’d not allowed to leave her screaming lungs. Her relief was short lived as Link turned and screamed her name as the sharp whistle of air caught her ears. She didn’t have a chance to determine her next movement as an arrow embedded itself into her shoulder. Link practically roared as she fell to the ground. He spun on his heel in the direction of the arrow, zeroing in on the last Yiga soldier who dropped his bow to the ground at sight of Link charging towards him. 

“The spawn of the incarnate will fall! The cycle will end!” 

Link brought his sword down with enough force to split the ground in two, but the Yiga had used its magic to teleport away. He fell forcefully in the dirt before sputtering and shoving himself upright. The Master Sword lay abandoned in his wake as he skid to a halt before Zelda, falling to his knees before her. 

“No!” he cried as he eyed the arrow jutting from her shoulder, his hands hovering above her body almost uselessly as his mind raced. 

“I have to take this out,” his voice wavered. 

He tried to collect himself as he steadied the arrow and carefully broke off the end of it so he could slide it out of her body. She wailed in pain as it slid through her and he nearly collapsed at the sound of it. He desperately pushed both of his hands to try and stop the warm blood that was now pooling around her. Zelda could feel how his hands trembled as they pushed against her. She dared not tell him he was hurting her. 

Zelda stared up at him as an odd sense of calm washed over her. His face was flushed and bloodied and his eyes were blown and rimmed in tears. She hadn’t seen him cry in four years. Not since the birth of their daughter. But this was a far cry from the tears he had shed then. This cry was ugly and frantic and desperate as he tried to piece her back together. 

“It should be me. Should be me” he repeated to himself as he fell apart above her. 

Paya rushed to her side and gently pushed Link’s hands away. 

“Master Link, please let me help. You need to comfort her”

He oddly obeyed and released his hands, which flew to cup her cheeks. He leaned forward and put his forehead against hers as his tears fell on her cheek.  _ They're warm _ , Zelda thought, _warm as the waters in Lurelin_. Her vision blurred as her eyes faded closed. She remembered Lurelin. How he had kissed her gently that night on the beach.  _ We should take Lili there,  _ she thought as the weight of her body seemed to melt into the ground. 

“Liliya, Paya is helping your Mama, please come here!” Dorian’s voice brought her back to the present. Her eyes fluttered open as she rolled her head in the direction of the voice. Liliya stood before her, her eyes rimmed in red though no fresh tears adorned her face. Dorian was trying to keep her from seeing her mother in that state, no doubt thinking of his own daughters. But Liliya was her father’s daughter and had squirmed from his grasp. She was motionless as she stared at her mother on the ground, her father a mess above her, both of them covered in blood. Her eyes hardened as she locked in on the wound that Paya was nursing. Something in Zelda stirred and she weakly lifted her hand. 

Link lifted his head to watch her as the air around them seemed to still; like the atmosphere before a thunderstorm. Even Paya stopped her nursing to watch her. The little girl moved with such determination that no one reached forward to stop her as she took her mother’s hand in both of her own and leaned forward to press their conjoined hands against the angry wound. 

A golden light came first from Zelda’s own palm before it traveled up Liliya’s arm. The long golden strands of her hair began to lift in a breeze that no one else could feel. All around them, the world stilled. The fire’s crackle was muted, the clamoring of villagers slowed to a halt, even the fireflies ceased their flickering. All turned to watch as the child’s whole body seemed to illuminate brighter than a full moon. Zelda’s chest suddenly filled with air that escaped her in a gasp before Liliya’s eyes finally opened and the sounds of the world returned. Slowly, they moved their hands to reveal clean skin where once the wound had been. Only a small sliver of scar was left as any evidence there had been trauma at all. 

Link gaped down at the now closed wound, his hands still quivering against her skin. Slowly his eyes made their way to hers and she watched as his heartache transformed to confusion and then awe. 

“Mama?” Liliya’s voice stole both of her parents' attention.

Zelda sat up slowly and pulled her into a tight embrace and Link enveloped them both in his arms. The small family that seemed to fit perfectly in each other’s spaces held each other desperately as the remainder of the villagers stared at them and each other, trying to make sense of what had happened. 

“Grandmother, was that…” Paya stuttered as she had walked backwards to reach Impa, whose own jaw was having trouble staying in its place. 

“Hylia’s blessing,” the old woman whispered, the reverence in her voice abundantly clear.

“Grandmother?”

“The child. She’s just unlocked her blessing. I never thought I would live to see the day…” Impa’s hands began to shake as tears streamed down her face. 

The entire village came a standstill to stare at the still faintly glowing child as she lay wrapped in her parents’ arms. Magic lingered in the air like a heavy fog; still charged as if at any moment it may ignite again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No fluff without the angst tax. That's the rules around here. I daydreamed this scene months ago and I'm glad to finally have it written. If you thought I would kill Zelda, I'm very sorry. But I could never. The plot thickens. 
> 
> Let me know what you think!


	9. Of Princesses and Knights

Link knelt over Zelda and ghosted his hands across the wound on her chest. Though her skin was still smeared with blood, the wound was completely closed; appearing healed as if it had occurred weeks ago rather than just moments before. Liliya sat quietly beside her, still holding her mother’s hand. 

“Can you walk?” he said softly as his eyes assessed her for damage. His face was heavy with concern and the strain in his voice told Zelda he was close to losing it again. She gave him a small smile as she nodded, moving to lift herself off the ground. Once standing, she leaned on him heavily, the drain of the blood loss causing a spell of dizziness to come over her. He wrapped a strong arm around her waist as she draped hers over his shoulder for support. 

“Come here, love” he motioned to Liliya with his other hand, leaning forward so she could climb onto him as well. He held her small body with his last free arm and she melted into him, resting her chin on his shoulder so she could watch the crowd as he began to walk away. 

Impa made to call after the family but was stilled by Paya’s hand on her back. 

“Grandmother, perhaps we should give them a moment alone,” she suggested. Impa nodded sagely and watched as he escorted his family straight to the inn without looking at or speaking to anyone else. 

Zelda placed her other hand upon his chest as they walked; listening to its still frantic beating as she felt him taking strategic breaths to calm himself down. 

Once they reached their room in the inn, he helped Zelda to sit on the chest that sat at the foot of the bed and placed Liliya down gently beside her, placing a soft kiss to her head as he did so. He scrambled silently around the room until he found a bowl of water and a cloth and settled down before them again. Liliya curled into Zelda’s side and she wrapped a protective arm around her as she watched Link dip the cloth into the liquid before bringing it to her skin. He worked without words, occasionally wringing out the small fabric which stained the water a soft crimson with each new dip. Zelda simply watched him, noticing the tenseness that had settled into his features. He was filthy as well and not accomplishing much but he seemed so focused on his task that she allowed him to continue until she felt the shaking return to his hands. 

“Link” she sighed as he nearly dropped the bowl on the floor. 

He took a deep breath but attempted to continue without a word. 

“Link, please look at me” 

He dropped the cloth into the bowl and stared at it a moment before shifting and dropping his forehead to her shoulder. She used her free hand that wasn’t busy rubbing soothing circles on her daughter’s back to do the same on his as she felt him shiver into her skin. 

“I almost lost you” the words came strained by the tightness of his throat. 

“But you didn’t” she reassured him, bringing her hand up to cup the back of his neck, placing a kiss in his disheveled hair. 

He sat up and shifted his attention to Liliya, who had been quietly watching their exchange with a frown weighing down her usually amiable features. The little girl was frightened and shaken but above all very confused as she still felt the tingling of whatever had occurred between her and her mother running through her veins. 

“Papa, what happened?” she asked with a quiver in her voice as she reached out for him. He took her swiftly into his arms, holding her tightly against him for a moment before sitting her on his lap so that she faced him, looking over her in assessment but finding no wounds. 

“Are you alright? Did you get hurt?” The softness and affection in his voice was enough to bring a small smile to Zelda’s face. He cupped her cheeks in his palms, using his thumbs to brush away her tears. 

The little girl shook her head but answered, “That was very scary” 

“I know, little one. I know. I’m so sorry. But it’s over now,” Link said as he pulled her closer to him. She nestled into the space she had always found there, resting her head on his collarbone and holding his tunic balled into one of her tiny fists. Link shifted briefly so that he sat beside Zelda on the chest and she rested her own head upon him as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He found he couldn't quite hold them tight enough. 

“You’re safe now,” he told them both as he held them, “You’re safe” he repeated and Zelda knew the words were more for himself than anyone else. 

“We need to tell her,” Zelda said quietly, lifting her head to look at him. 

He opened and closed his mouth a few times in an attempt to answer. She watched his thoughts as they traveled across his face; the biting of his bottom lip, the scrunching of his eyebrows, and finally the sigh that signaled he had found his words. 

“How am I supposed to tell my own story, when I don’t even know it myself?”

She tried not to let him see how that admission broke her heart as she squeezed his hand that lay in her lap. 

“We will tell her together”

He nodded as he let go of a breath she expected he’d been holding a while. 

“But not like this,” she continued, “We are filthy. Let us clean up” 

* * *

Liliya sat sleepily in her mother’s lap after they left the small bathing room attached to their room in the inn. Zelda worked her damp hair into sections and began a simple braid down the child’s back that would allow her to sleep comfortably. Link sat in the window, his eyes fixed on the night sky as Zelda hummed a gentle tune and tied off the girl’s hair. Zelda lifted the little girl from her lap and laid her gently on the bed with a kiss before turning to watch him. He was outlined only by the moonlight streaming through the small window, making his golden hair seem almost silver. It cast his shadow in an almost otherworldly glow as he stood slowly and approached her. He could see the small sliver of a scar on her once clean flesh; the thin crescent to mark where the arrow had entered her body. He traced it with a finger before pulling her into his arms. 

“Are you ready?” she asked quietly, bringing her own hands up to feel the flex of his shoulder blades through his back. 

He merely nodded and they climbed into bed together, laying on either side of Liliya as she tossed and turned between them, unable to choose who to curl into. She ultimately chose to snuggle into her father with her back as she held her mother’s hands. 

“Lili, there is something your father and I need to tell you that we’ve never told you before,” Zelda began. Link shifted so that their legs entangled under the heavy quilt, seeking his own comfort in her contact. 

“What is it?” she asked.

“Do you remember the castle we sometimes see? The one you always point to when it sticks up on the horizon?” Zelda said, freeing one of her hands to push a runaway strand of hair from her daughter’s face. 

“The broken one?”  
  
“Yes. What is it that you always ask us when you see it?” 

Liliya squinted her eyes as she thought about it. She had always been so curious about the large structure that seemed to loom off in the distance and she had never been able to get anyone to tell her about it, no matter how she asked. She had only been told it was a dangerous place and they were much safer in their home in Hateno. 

“Oh!” she squeaked as she remembered the question that had always rattled off in her mind when she saw it, “Who lives in there?”

Zelda smiled at her sleepy enthusiasm as Link lay still and silent behind her. 

“I don’t believe anyone lives there now. It is quite broken and dangerous. But a very long time ago...a King and a Princess and her knight all lived in that castle. Along with many others. It was once a very large town, even bigger than Hateno”

Liliya’s eyes lit up as her imagination began to fill in the empty spaces between the old bricks and the broken bridges. 

“Did the Princess wear a crown?”

“Not all the time,” Zelda said, “This Princess was quite stubborn. In fact, I believe in her heart she truly just wanted to be an ordinary girl who could play in the dirt and chase beetles and not have to wear stuffy dresses or crowns.”

She saw Link’s faint smile and continued on, “The King, who was the Princess’ father, knew that a great darkness was coming to try and destroy their beautiful kingdom”

“Darkness?” Liliya echoed as she shuffled closer to Link who held her tighter. 

“Yes, I’m afraid you saw a little of that darkness today, though what he knew lay in wait for his kingdom was much darker and much uglier and much more powerful than a man in a mask. He knew it was his duty as King to try and protect his people the best he could”

“What did he do?” Liliya whispered. 

“He knew that he held a power that would always shine brighter than even the darkest of all darkness. And that power was within the Princess, for she carried the blessing of our Goddess Hylia just as her mother had before her. She held the key to sealing that darkness away forever”

Liliya’s eyes grew wide as her young mind tried to process her mother’s words. 

“But the Princess was very young and very scared and she wasn’t sure she believed there was power within her because she had never felt it. Her father made her work very hard every day to try and force her to find it, but it never worked.”

“Was the Princess sad?” Liliya asked as she looked into her mother’s eyes which were now lightly brimmed in unshed tears.

“Yes, she was. But she wasn’t alone. The Goddess chose a hero to stand beside her in the great battle over darkness. She chose a boy around the Princess’ own age who was brave in battle but also kind in heart. She led the boy to the secret woods where he found a great sword that only he could wield for only he was the one chosen to wield it. Can you guess who the boy was?”

Zelda watched as Link closed his eyes as he listened to her retelling of his past. She knew the boundaries of where his memories began and ended in their time together. He did not remember pulling the sword. 

“Who?” Liliya breathed, now completely drawn into her mother’s story. Zelda couldn’t help but smile at her. It was in those moments when she saw herself in her daughter, when her mind was completely taken over by story and intrigue. 

“It was the Princess’ own knight”

Liliya’s mouth opened in a silent o shape as she no doubt pictured the knight in her mind. 

“I bet he wasn’t scared”

Zelda looked up to Link who had opened his eyes and was looking at her intently. 

“No,” she said, “I think he was frightened too. Even the bravest warriors know fear. He just pretended that he wasn’t so that everyone would feel safe. He wanted all of Hyrule to know he was a great hero that would save them, even though he didn’t feel like a great hero. He just felt scared too, just like the Princess”

“Oh” Liliya said as she tried to keep her heavy eyelids open, “But why is the castle broken now? Where did they go? Did the darkness ever come?”

“Well…” Zelda began to falter. This part of the story was the hardest to condense and the most difficult to retell. They had been running from this part of their past for nearly five years and to share it with their child now felt like undoing all of the healing they’d done, even though she knew it had to be done.

“They’re right here,” Link said, breaking Zelda from her spiraling. 

Liliya turned to look at him, confused. 

“It’s not just a bedtime story, Lili. It’s our story. Your mother and I. That castle is your mother’s castle. She is the Princess and I am her hero. We were the ones who were meant to battle the darkness”

Liliya turned her head to look at her mother for reassurance. She knew her father was one to tell a tall tale just to make her laugh, but her mother would never lie to her.

“That’s your castle?” she asked as she darted her gaze back and forth between them. 

Zelda merely nodded as her tears finally spilled over their gates and ran down her cheeks. 

“We tried very, very hard to save it. But then...I was hurt very badly and I wasn’t able to help your mama anymore. She had to try and fight without me for a very long time while she waited for me to get better. We were supposed to be a team. Because of that, the castle fell,” he kept his voice calm as he reached across the girl to lay a hand on Zelda’s arm. 

“Link…” Zelda choked out.

“It’s true, Zelda,” he said as he turned back to Liliya who was then deep in thought. 

“Did the Princess ever find it?” she asked quietly, turning to look at Zelda.

“Find what, my love?” Zelda cooed at her through her tears. 

“Her power”

Zelda stilled a moment before slowly letting out a shaky breath, trying her hardest not to relive the moment that had haunted her for nearly a century. She tried not to hear the rasp of Link’s breathing as his lungs filled with blood, tried not to feel as his body slackened in her grasp. 

“Yes, I did,” she managed, “Just not quite at the right time”  
  
“Where was it?” Liliya asked. 

“Here,” Zelda said as she pointed to her own chest, “in my heart. Which is where you found yours today”

“Mine?” Liliya gasped as her hands went to her own chest as if she could tangibly feel the power living there. 

“Yes,” Zelda softly laughed, “it’s how you were able to heal me today. When you were born, I shared my blessing with you. You were able to find it much quicker than I was”

“Woah” Liliya said as she brought her hands up to the air in front of her face, turning them over as if she could still see the light that had erupted from them.

“Do I have to fight a darkness too?” she said suddenly, her hands pulling back defensively to her chest. 

Link instinctively pulled her closer, letting out a forceful, “No” as he held her tightly. 

“No,” he repeated, softening his grip as she curled into him, nestling her head in the crook of his arm, “you don’t ever have to do anything but be yourself. If you never see your power again, we would never force you to find it. All we want is for you to be happy” 

“Do I get a hero too?” she mumbled, drowsy in the cocoon of her father’s arms and the warm blankets. 

Zelda snuggled up behind her and the three of them wrapped together like one unit. 

“I think we can share this one, if that’s okay,” Zelda smiled into her hair as she reached across her body to rest her arm on Link. 

“That’s okay. It’s kind to share” Liliya mumbled before going silent. 

The three of them lay in the quiet, listening only to the soft cadence of each other’s breaths.

“I will never understand how she falls asleep so fast,” Link said, opening one eye to look at Zelda. 

“It’s the way you hold her,” she answered, gesturing at his grip on her, “she feels safe”

“But how can I keep her safe after today?” his voice quivered, “I almost lost both of you. If she hadn’t...you would’ve...and I…”  
Zelda wiped the tears from his eyes as she softly answered, “I know” 

“Are you sure you’re alright?” he asked, concern dripping heavy from each word. 

“Just tired” 

“Hold on” 

He shifted them around in the bed until he had Zelda in his arms much the same way as he had held their daughter. 

“Do you feel safe now?” he asked as he held her close. 

Zelda could feel the pull of her exhaustion at the back of her eyes as she allowed herself to succumb to his warmth. 

“I am always safe when I am with you” 

He wasn’t sure he believed her, but he kept her there until he felt her breathing even out and he prayed he could build truth to her words. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of snuggling and soft kisses and reassurances here. I think they needed it after last chapter.


	10. Royal Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The italics at the beginning are a flashback, in case that isn't clear. I'm not the best at formatting.

_ She felt his heart beating at the inside of his chest like a caged animal begging for freedom. Though his eyes were tucked safely behind closed lids, they darted around as if he were searching for some great threat behind them. His breathing came ragged and his hands curled into tight fists as his body jerked underneath their shared blanket. Every so often a pained cry would pass his lips as he contorted and twisted. She tried to lay her head on his chest and listened to the cadence of his heart as it hammered away at his sense of security. Upon being reunited, she quickly discovered that her time spent with the Goddess as she held the Calamity at bay and his time in the Shrine of Resurrection had taken much different tolls on their minds and bodies. While Zelda had come to know a certain level of peace, having been shielded by the divine light that lay within her, Link had battled alone without even his memories to comfort him. That pain was never more evident than when he slept and was unable to keep those feelings at bay. He had tried time and time again to reassure her that he was fine, that he felt better now. That she was helping him to remember. But it didn’t stop the night terrors and his empty words did little to ease the pain she felt when she looked upon him in this state.  _

_ Suddenly he shot up in their small tent he had pitched in the Tabantha grasslands, causing Zelda to tumble off his chest. His breathing had amplified to such a rapid pace that he nearly gasped as he tried to force air deeper in his lungs. His hands went to grab fistfuls of his hair on either side of his head as his body trembled in the soft moonlight. Zelda sat behind him and lay her head on his back, wrapping her arms around his clammy body, having learned that touch was the best way to ground him when he was lost in that space where fear and nightmare had started to fill in the gaps his memories had left behind. She took purposeful deep breaths, allowing him to feel the rise and fall of her chest against his back. Slowly his breathing would come to match her own and she would feel each muscle in his shoulders as they began to relax. Only then would she feel safe enough to speak to him.  _

_ “Can you tell me?”  _

_ He took a deep breath and covered the hands on his chest with his own after untangling them from his hair, feeling the tingle of pain on his scalp from the pressure he had used to pull it.  _

_ “I lost” he rasped through the tightness in his throat. _

_ Zelda moved so that she sat in front of him, tipping up his chin so that he would have to look at her and not the floor of the tent.  _

_ “You did not lose, it was only a dream”  _

_ “I could feel it” he whispered, a stray tear making a clean path down his dirty cheeks.  _

_ “What did you feel?”  _

_ “Everything,” he said, rubbing a hand across the deeper scars on his chest, pulling it back to inspect for blood like one might a fresh wound, but only finding the unblemished skin of his palm.  _

_ “I’m sorry” he whispered. _

_ All she knew to do was hold him and whisper soft reassurances into his hair as he recoiled from century old wounds, never safe, even in his dreams.  _

Zelda woke just as the sun’s fingers hovered at the edge of the horizon, promising another day. She reached around her blindly, expecting to feel Link’s familiar weight at her back but only found Liliya, her face half obscured by her hair that had come out of her braid, and a hefty wet spot pooling from her slightly open mouth. She sat up and scanned the room before she found him. He had left her at some point in the night to sit with his back to their door, the Master Sword lying unsheathed in his lap, his hand wrapped firmly around its hilt. His head had lulled to the side and his eyes were closed though she could see from the way they moved beneath his lids that he was dreaming. It sent a pang of guilt through her stomach. He had left them to keep watch. Just as he’d used to do before Liliya had been born. 

It had taken what felt like a lifetime before he had finally been able to rest at night without jolting alive either from nightmare or the smallest sound that his brain perceived as a threat. He had tried to explain to her that it was from his time alone. That he’d been unable to rest as the world had been a much more dangerous place and he was likely to be attacked in his sleep, even if he lay safely in an inn or a village. Someone or something had always been out to kill him, whether it was a beast or the Yiga. He had thought that his simple explanation would have appeased her, but it had only strengthened her determination to erase the deep pockets of fatigue that had pooled under his eyes. In all other aspects, what she prayed for most was for him to remember. But there were certain things she wished he could now forget. To think of him all those months he had traveled, all alone and confused, darting alive at the most minuscule of sounds, his life in constant danger...it was a thought she hoped to override in his mind with new memories. Ones where he was loved and valued and above all safe. It was a safety they had both nearly died for, after all. They had long earned it. She just had to find a way to help him access it. 

Between elixirs, special teas, long baths, and other, more intimate activities, what she had found most effective was simply holding him and tracing circles into his back as he fell asleep. He seemed to still simply from her physical presence. Before long, he was sleeping soundly from dusk until sunrise, waking with a smile on his drowsy face. Now, as he sat slumped in front of their door, she knew he had lost some of that regained peace and she also knew what he would want to do to regain it. The thought of him charging off into battle unsettled her stomach so she pushed the thought away and untangled herself from the covers.

She rose slowly from the bed so as to not disturb the slumbering child, taking with her one of the blankets. She walked across the room and gently draped it across his shoulders. He did not stir. She stole a few moments just to look at him as he sat on the floor, perfectly willing to give up anything, even his own rest, if it meant they were safe. Moving silently, she propped herself on the small windowsill and pressed her temple to the cold glass, watching as the first lazy fragments of sunlight crept across the landscape. She could hear the soft jingling of wind chimes from outside. 

For the first time in a very long time, she thought of home. Not the house she shared with Link in Hateno, but  _ home.  _ The castle where she had been born and learned to walk. The gardens where her mother taught her the names of flowers and the importance of play and exploration. She thought of her father and all his sternness. For all he tried to be a great King, he had failed at being her father. Even after Link had given her his diary and she had read about his plans on reconciliation, she couldn’t help but feel his harshness like a scrape across her soul that would never heal. Her life before the Calamity was almost a haze; an antiquated dream. 

She turned to look at Link again and thought of her new life. Of what they’d built together. The memories they shared. The  _ child  _ they shared. She wondered what her father would think of her now. Did she finally live up to his expectations? Now she really was heir to a throne of nothing. But this time, it was her choice. Except her kingdom now wasn’t nothing. It was very much alive and growing, much like she was. This Hyrule was her daughter’s Hyrule. Not the suffocating burden of her past, but a promise of hope and renewal. Of healing. 

She looked at the sleeping child curled in the soft bed and smiled. As much as her birth had been a promising distraction from both their pasts, she had also been a great source of healing. Every new milestone brought them further and further from the despair that the Calamity had branded into their very existence. For so long they had both operated under the belief that they were pawns in a game of destiny; bound by expectation to someone else’s plans. But with Liliya they had found a certain measure of freedom. Here they weren’t Goddess and Hero. They were Mama and Papa. Zelda and Link. And those roles felt much easier to fill.

She still remembered the shout of pure joy that had erupted from Link’s body at her first steps and the way he had been embarrassed to cry the first time he heard her say “papa”. She remembered how tiny she felt in her arms and the way Link looked at her with awe when he saw them together. Every time she looked into those deep blue eyes she felt another burden lift from her heart. But something else stirred within her now. She wondered what Hyrule her daughter would know. This was a world that was still so new, even to her. She felt her father’s voice echo in the back of her mind. This was her kingdom. Her land. Her people. Had she truly abandoned them? Or simply given them their freedom as well? 

Feeling her fatigue creep back up her spine to settle in her eyes, she forced herself out of her reverie and found herself settling beside Link on the floor, laying her head on his shoulder. It reminded her of those nights long ago when a desperate ache had hung silently between them. When they had been so frightened of the other that they dared not speak the truth that lay just on the tip of their tongues, settling instead for stolen glances or the light touch of each other’s thighs when they chose to sit closer than protocol allowed. She turned her face into him and reveled in that fact that there was no one left to tell them who they couldn’t be. She slipped a hand under the hem of his tunic just because she could and let the warmth she found there lull her back to sleep. 

The light sound of knocking roused Link immediately from his unexpected slumber. He started awake, jostling Zelda at his side who also woke. He shared a confused glance with her before standing and pulling her up beside him. Carefully, he cracked the door, only to see Cado standing before them. 

“My apologies for the interruption. I’m meant to bring you a message. Impa has requested your presence again. I will warn you though, the council have regathered and are with her. I didn’t want you going in blind” 

“Thank you, Cado. Tell them we will be there shortly” Link replied simply and Cado turned on his heels with a silent nod and left them. 

Zelda looked up at him nearly aghast. 

“You really want to see all of them again?”

He tried to rub life back into his tired eyes with the heel of his hands before he let out a sigh.

“There’s nothing more they can say to me. If they still want to see me as some mindless swordsman that abducted their Queen then let them. I don’t care. But we have to talk about this, Zelda. This wasn’t some isolated attack. Now that they’ve seen her, they won’t stop. If Impa and her council have any plans on finally eradicating those pests, then I’m all ears,” he said as he threw the Master Sword back over his shoulder and began to pull on his boots. 

“And what if that’s not what they want to talk about? What if they want someone else?” she questioned, folding her arms as she watched him move purposelessly around the room, stopping when he saw Liliya begin to wake at the sound of their voices. He sat on the edge of the bed and she crawled towards him. 

“Then I expect you’ll have some choice words for them and we’ll figure it out ourselves. But I’m not letting this go,” he asserted before he softened his face as he looked at Liliya. 

“Good morning, sweetheart,” he said sweetly, “Are you hungry?”

She nodded into his chest and he turned back to Zelda. 

“At least maybe we’ll get something to eat out of it,” he said with a shrug, trying to ease her tension.

She snorted and threw her arms up in the air before beginning to dress herself as well. She hadn’t seen him so determined in so long. She knew there was no arguing with him now. 

“It’s always about eating with you two,” she breathed with a fake show of exasperation as she turned her head away from him so he wouldn’t see her smile. 

* * *

Zelda couldn’t help but to be transported back in time as she led her family to Impa’s home. Though the walk was short, it felt miles long with the number of eyes that were upon them. Villagers who had once been so friendly and casual at their appearance stared at them from their doorway, turning to talk in hushed whispers and others even bowing their heads. She felt like a child walking through Castletown again at her father’s side. The Sheikah people watched them with admiration in their eyes and Zelda felt small under the weight of it. Liliya tugged at her father’s coat and he was quick to prop her on his hip, letting her rest her cheek on his shoulder as they walked up the long steps. Zelda remembered once how she had jokingly scolded him for carrying her so often.  _ She can walk, you know,  _ she had teased him one day as they climbed over the hills from Hateno beach.  _ I know...I just...it’s nice,  _ he’d replied as he tucked her more firmly under his chin. She smiled at the memory and let the comfort it brought her give her strength as she pushed open the door. 

Impa sat in her usual spot, but the space before her had been transformed into a meeting place of sorts. A long table sat perpendicular to the door, each side lined with a number of well tailored men, some young and some old. At their appearance in the doorway an older gentleman stood and bowed in a deep genuflect, prompting the others to do the same. Zelda shared a confused look with Impa who merely shook her head with a smile in her eyes. She then turned to Link who looked completely lost. 

“My grandfather, Leander Arbory the Duke of Neclunda, once told me about his meeting with the royal family long ago. He described the King as a mountain of a man with eyes as hard as diamonds. He told me of the beautiful late Queen who had showered the castle with her kindness and her compassion, and of the princess, who was the perfect embodiment of beauty and grace”

Zelda stiffened at the mention of her family. She did not remember the various Dukes and Duchesses or Barons or any other nobility of her long lost kingdom. Unlike other Princesses, she had been burdened with a very specific duty that left her isolated and unaware of the political side that came with her title. Her father had made sure there was only one thing on her mind and her agenda at all times, as much good as that did in the long run. Yet she did remember the long meetings and the stiff wardrobes and the practiced conversations of her old life as if it were a passing dream. It tasted stale at the back of her throat, like an old loaf of bread or water that was left out overnight in an old mug. 

“He was one of the lucky few that happened to be away from the castle when the calamity arose. Because of that, our family was able to survive, albeit on a much smaller scale than before and without the grandeur the life of nobility brought. But my grandfather never gave up on Hyrule. Even as his son’s became farmers rather than Barons, he still remembered. On his deathbed he told me that one day Hyrule would be a great kingdom again. He died with his eyes on the light that shone within the castle. I was a young boy then and I had never believed the rumor that the lost Princess fought alone within those walls, holding that darkness at bay. But when you and your knight returned here and the beast that hovered for a century had disappeared...I knew it had to be true, for you are still the same Princess my grandfather described to me all those years ago” 

Zelda held her breath as the man spoke. For so long she had renounced her title. She had torn it, burned it, and kicked away the ashes just as she’d done with the ceremonial dress she had worn the day Link came charging the castle. Instinctively, she shuffled closer to him, always drawn to his safety as that old feeling of dread began to wash over her once more. 

“We bow now to the new royal family of Hyrule. Our radiant Queen, Goddess of Light, who held back the calamity alone for 100 years. Our courageous King who aided in your battle, slaying the malice beast and beating even death itself to do so. And our new little Princess, who has shown her own blessing from the Goddess in front of our very eyes”

Zelda turned slowly to look at Link who had the same appearance as a man lost at sea. He looked at her and mouthed the word “king” as he seemed to struggle for air. She reached for his hand and stood firm at his side as the man continued. 

“You must forgive us for our misgivings in the past. Please understand that your very presence here goes beyond all reason. It is not everyday you see and feel the power of Hylia herself or see the Goddess’ chosen wielding that blade against agents of darkness. For most of us, the two of you were only a fairy tale. I believe I speak for everyone here when I say you have opened our eyes” 

The man sat and straightened himself before lifting his eyes to Zelda. Everyone in the room seemed to be staring at her. If she closed her eyes she could almost feel her father’s gaze upon her as well. But it was Link’s hand softly squeezing her own that brought her back. She steadied herself with a deep breath before addressing the hushed room. 

“The Hyrule you see today and the Hyrule of my youth are not one in the same. My father’s Hyrule fell when the Calamity broke the walls of that castle. But what has grown in its place is a beauty I’ve seen with my own eyes. This Hyrule, my daughter’s Hyrule, has survived a century without the leadership of a crown. I’ve seen it firsthand as I’ve lived among them and raised my family,” she shifted so that Link could see the smile on her face. He returned it cautiously as he tried to process what was happening. 

“All our lives, we were seen for what we could do and not for who we were. We were children of destiny, this is true. But we were children all the same. Link and I devoted our entire lives to battling the calamity and it cost us everything in the end. We bled for this kingdom so that you may live. All I wanted in return was a chance for us to live freely as you have” 

Zelda let go of Link’s hand and began to pace the room. Link sat Liliya down on the floor, but she clung to his legs, captivated by her mother’s words, though she did not understand them. Impa sat silent as a statue with her eyes trained on Zelda.

“When Link brought me back here after the battle with the calamity, after a century spent mourning my losses and my failures, I thought that maybe now I could breathe again without the threat of malice snaking down my throat. But then you extended that crown to me and you may as well have asked me to put my wrists back in shackles. And when you dared to doubt my hero, a man who  _ died  _ for me, and  _ still  _ fought to return to my side despite having lost everything that made him who he was...it made that crown even more of a prison than a birthright and you became my new enemy. That is why I left all those years ago”

The councilmen shifted nervously in their seats. Zelda knew these men were but a ghost of their descendants. Sons and grandsons of noblemen who had sat at her father’s side. They were fighting for a life they had only heard about. To them, the calamity was a story. A distant haze on the horizon. They had never considered the torment that was breaking the surface of that darkness into a new century. They saw the crown as a shiny prize. It never occurred to them the weight it held for her.

“But I am not that same wounded girl who stumbled in here five years ago and my hero is not some wild warrior the Goddess unleashed to save me as you once saw him as. We have grown and matured and found our solace in one another for there is no one left to truly understand that pain that still lines our hearts. I know that my blood means that I will always have a responsibility to this land. But I refuse to put a title and a crown above my family the way my father did”

Link stepped forward and wrapped her in his arms before she even realized she was crying. She let the world wash away as she buried her face in his chest, listening only to the rhythm of his heart, feeling only his hands and he tried to meld them closer together. 

The room fell into a somber hush as the two embraced. Liliya, feeling nervous and confused at her parent’s upset, lifted her arms and Zelda picked her up to hold her close, reminding herself of what was truly worth fighting for. 

“My Zelda,” Impa’s frail voice carried across the room, bringing everyone’s eyes upon her, “you have grown wise in your time away from us. I want to speak for everyone when I say that we do not wish to strip you of your family and force you into a life of servitude. We were wrong to assume you would willingly step into the old footsteps of your father. You are right that this Hyrule has changed. But it still needs you, Zelda. We are simply and humbly asking for your wisdom and your guidance as we attempt to piece together this land that was once so whole and mighty. We’ve spoken to the people and they were not blind to your battle. They want to see you. They want a Queen. And when they see that their hero, who no one can seem to stop speaking about, is now their  _ King?  _ That adoration will only multiply”

Zelda turned her back on Impa to search Link’s face as she sorted through her thoughts. She looked only at him, searching the seas of his eyes for answers. For so long, he had been the beacon of light in a world so cascaded in darkness. The beating of his heart had sustained her over a century as malice reigned in the spaces around her where her light could not reach. He was the reason, he had always been the reason. He leaned her forehead to touch hers and spoke in a voice so light, she knew it was only meant for her. 

_ "T _ __hi_ s is your choice, Zelda. Whatever you decide, I will always be here. I will always be right beside you. Forever and always” _

He smiled at her and the sight of it settled the century of torment that had began to swirl again inside her. She put a hand on his cheek, trying to pull courage from him just as desperately as he was trying to give it to her. With a deep breath she shifted her eyes back on their audience who had stilled at their private moment, feeling as if they were seeing something that wasn’t meant for them. 

“If you truly wish to rebuild Hyrule, then we must start with the Yiga. They are a pest that must be exterminated or they will continue to taint our lands with their hatred. Tell me everything you know about their whereabouts,” she said firmly, pulling Link so that he took the seat directly beside her at the long table, claiming her spot among them. Liliya climbed to sit in Link's lap, feeling very small in the room full of people she did not know talking about things she did not understand. 

Impa beamed with pride as Zelda began to command the room, just as her mother had done all those years ago when the calamity was but a distant nightmare and the castle was a symbol of power and strength. She allowed herself to feel hope for her kingdom again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imagine being barely 17 (going on 117) and thrust into a position to reclaim a title that had taken everything from you. It's no wonder Zelda acted as brashly as she did the first time she saw Impa again. I hoped to convey the maturity she'd undergone in the years her and Link spent away from everyone. 
> 
> This fic is just pure indulgence on my end. I know the plot can be somewhat all over the place, but I do have a plan, I promise lol


End file.
